Fairy Tail: White Eclipse Arc
by Tyoung32
Summary: A few weeks have passed since the dragons attacked. Things have returned back to normal as Fairy Tail was again the top guild in Fiore. Everything was back to it's usual feel in Fiore, except there was one "small" problem.
1. Chapter 1

White Eclipse

Chapter 1

A few weeks have passed since the dragons attacked. Things have returned back to normal as Fairy Tail was again the top guild in Fiore. Everything was back to it's usual feel in Fiore, except there was one "small" problem.

"Gah! Why are there no jobs!" Natsu screamed out as he vigorously ruffled through his hair in frustration. "This makes no sense! Every job we go on, someone else finishes it before we even get started!"

Erza nods her head in agreement. "This is strange. Mirajane contacted the other guilds we know, and they say that it's not their doing."

"I think someone is trying to show us up!" Natsu yelled back. "I know it!"

"Calm down flame brain." Gray leaned back in his chair as he sighed. "I'm sure it's just a string of coincidences."

Lucy stares at the board from her seat. "Even so.. This is still strange. Every time we go to talk to the person who posted the job, they say that it's been handled, but they won't tell us by who. They always say they want their name to stay a secret."

"Mysterious." Levy stated, she sat next to the uninterested Gajeel who had his arms folded. "Even the S class mission are being taken too, right Erza?"

Erza nodded. "Yeah, it's weird, but I guess the only thing we can do is keep trying. We have to eat, and Lucy has rent to pay. We all have needs for the jewel so we can only continue to keep trying."

"Speaking of that," Lucy turned to Bisca. "Bisca, is Alzack still on that job? Maybe he's had some luck?

Bisca smiles and nods towards Lucy. "Yeah, he should be back before nightfall. It was a simple job. Just enough for some extra jewel in our pockets. I just hope this job being taken thing doesn't happen to him."

"I'm sure he'll be fine!" Lucy exclaims. "Alzack will be proof that we are worrying for nothing about this job thing!"

Out near the snowy mountains, Alzack begins his walk back to Fairy Tail.

"Man, another dead job. Who keeps beating us to them? It's like they're targeting us. What will I tell Bisca?" Alzack continues walking through the light snow storm as he almost exits out the snowy region, but before he got too far. A shadowy figure stood a little ways in front of him. "Alzack Connell." The mysterious figure called out. "Fairy Tails gunsman." Alzack took a step back as he readied his gun. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The mysterious figure walks into view, showing his tall yet slender stature. He had short black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a white jacket and black slacks, along with black boots. "My name is Reve, i'm a guns mage as well, and I challenge you right here and now."

"Not interested." Alzack replied. The Fairy Tail Mage began walking past Reve as he started making his way out the region. "Shame, I heard you fairies were truly cowards, but it's another thing to see it." Alzack stops on a dime from Reve's comment, but that doesn't stop him from talking. "That Bisca of yours seems to be in love with a wuss. Maybe after I beat you, she'll realize what a real Mage looks like. Not that I'm interested. I could do better." With that Alzack

begins his turn to Reve, already having a magic circle placed on the Mage. "How dare you!" A single shot was heard from the surrounding area as one of the mages falls to the snow.


	2. Chapter 2

White Eclipse

Chapter 2

A full day has passed. Back at the Fairy Tail guild, Bisca is seen sitting down with Asuka. They both stare at the door, waiting for their father and husband to return. They no longer cared for the money, the worry on their face showed they were just wanting to see him in one piece. And with that, the guild doors open. Three males stood at the door way. One of them was Alzack. He had a wound the size of a baseball in his right shoulder. She shape of the wound caught Bisca's eye. She automatically knew that Alzack's not only wounded, but he was shot. The rest of the guild turns around as Asuka runs to her father. "Papa!" It takes the young girl a few more strides in her run to realize that her father was hurt as he hunched over the two men. "Papa..." Alzack stirs awake from his daughter's voice. "Asuka.. Go back to your mother now..."

The two men carrying Alzack also come into view as they hand over the guns mage to the rushing Gray. They both were near the same height. One of the mages had red hair with tinted orange at the ends and green eyes. Shirtless, his jacket was long and white as he went down to the knees of his brown pants. His boots and gloves were the same color as his pants. The Mage next to him had brown hair. He wore a jacket with a red undershirt, blue jeans and shoes. His hands had on leather gloves. Gray looks at the two mages as Natsu walks beside the ice maker. "What happened to him!?" Gray asked the two mages.

"He's been shot." The brown haired Mage responded. "In the shoulder!" The red haired Mage exclaimed in a joyous tone. His tone bothered everyone in the guild. Natsu turns to him with a growl. "Why do you sound happy about that!?"

"Sorry!" The Mage pleaded for forgiveness as he waved his hands in surrender. "I can't help it, it's the way I am!"

"Natsu!" As if reading his mind, Erza calls out to him before he could even retaliate. He was already upset at Alzack's disposition. She turns back to the two at the door. "You two, do you know who did this?"

The red headed male smiles again. "Sure do! His name is Reve Volver! The guns requip Mage of White Eclipse!"

"White who?" Gray looks on puzzled as he continues holding up Alzack.

"White Eclipse, a guild in the snowy mountains. Reve is their S class Mage there."

Natsu looks over at Erza. "How come we've never heard of them?"

"Better yet..." Titania glares at the two mages. "How do you two know so much about them?"

The brown haired Mage smirks as the red head hops forward with glee as he exposes his guild mark on his left pectoral. "We're White Eclipse mages too! My name is Kuro! And my buddy behind me is Luke Cloud!" The whole guild stands speechless. Natsu, Gray, and Erza all glare at the two mages.

"You two have the nerve.. to show up here after what one of your guild mates did to our's?" Erza's tone was deep, her anger only being masked by her poise.

"Relax amigo." Luke said as he begins looking around the guild. His eyes catches Lucy's as he nearly forgets what he was about to say. Lucy realizes it too as she stares back, but their stares had different emotions obviously. "Alzack was trespassing."

"Screw that!" Natsu scrambles to get in the face of Luke, now forehead to forehead with the Mage. "You hurt one of ours for no reason! Well guess what!? Now you're trespassing! So how about I teach you a lesson on why you don't mess with Fairy Tail!"


	3. Chapter 3

White Eclipse

Chapter 3

"So it's a fight you want?" Luke said with a smug look on his face. Kuro watched with dramatically widened eyes as the two stood off. "Well in that case. Let's do this Salamander."

"Before you do." Erza walked forward as she spoke. "Answer me one thing. If you're a guild, where we you at the grand magic games?" Immediately Luke gives an embarrassed look on his face as Kuro ducks his head in embarrassment as well.

"Well you see." Kuro mumbled. "We we participated in the games. In the preliminaries! We were actually in first until..."

"It's this way!" The black haired mage yelled at Reve as they were shown standing on an upside down staircase. The preliminaries were underway and everything had been going well for White Eclipse, until this moment. The mage yelling was named Takeru. He stood in a sleeveless black shirt, jeans and black shoes. Reve shouted back at him as he pointed in the opposite direction. "No! It's over here! We just came from that way you idiot!"

"Don't call me an idiot!"

"What are you going to do kid!?"

"Don't call me kid either!"

To the left of them, Luke, and two more mages watched them argue, amazed that they picked such a time to do so. The female beside Luke was named Nami. Her black hair reaches just past her shoulders. She wore a white shirt with black shorts. She sighed. "We're going to lose if they don't stop."

"I'll say." The green haired mage beside Luke sighed as well. His eyes were two different colors. One red and one blue. His shirt was sleeveless as well, except it was purple. He wore black pants along with it. "I feel like we're being passed by the longer we stand here."

Minutes go by until Reve and Takeru finally come to a compromise..because Reve pistol whipped him on the top of the head and Luke held him back from retaliating until he calmed down. A few minutes later they run to the home stretch of the maze, not stopping until the reach the host.

"I don't...see anyone in sight." Reve huffed out. "That means we're still first!" They all cheer in excitement.

"No." The pumpkin headed host gives them a blank stare as he looked at the mages who suddenly stopped cheering. "You're actually the first team out. You came in ninth."

Stale faces were produced all around as they couldn't believe their ears.

"How embarrassing..."

"How embarrassing." Kuro said again as he came back from his flash back. "We didn't even stay for the games after that, we went home."

As Kuro finished speaking, stifling laughter was heard throughout the guild, until Natsu upfront and Gajeel from the back begin laughing boisterously at the events. This caused over half the guild to join them. "Stop laughing!" Kuro cried out.

Natsu responded while rolling around. "You guys didn't get out the maze! Me and Gray fought the entire time and we still made it out! And we started late!"

As Natsu makes his way to his feet, he's quickly taken off of them as Luke shoves him with force into the nearest table.

"Champs or not, laughing at us isn't a good idea. We didn't laugh when your guns man over there took a bullet to the shoulder. No matter how funny it was that he went down with one shot."

Natsu, who was not even listening anymore, charges back and throws a hook to Luke's jaw, sending him through the guild doors. He then slides outside as the streets clear. Luke makes his way to his feet as he rubs his jaw. "Okay amigo. Lets go then."

As Natsu and Luke stand off, Lucy looks on as she thinks. "We shouldn't have laughed. Our guild was in the same predicament once. Being laughed at. I think we're forgetting that."

"Oi! I'm gonna burn you to ash Duke!"

"My name is Luke you idiot!"

Natsu enflames both his fists as the entire street looks on in anticipation.

Erza looks over at Kuro, who was watching the fight with a sincere smile on his face. His arms crossed over his chest. "These mages, they kind of remind me of..."


	4. Chapter 4

White Eclipse

Chapter 4

Luke and Natsu stand off. Natsu was already showing his magic as his fist were surrounded by flames, not that it was a secret to what he could do. Natsu slides his foot, getting ready to lunge before he and everyone else heard a voice.

"Yo... Luke." On top of one of the lower roofs of Fairy tail, four more mages were standing or perched. The one who spoke, was Reve. "What did we tell you and Kuro before you left?"

The faires who had made their way outside all look up at the four mages on the roof. One of the mages really catch both Natsu and Gajeel's attention for some reason.

Luke responded. "They were talking about out guild! I wasn't going to let them laugh at us!"

"What's there to laugh at? Our gunsman isn't bleeding out right now."

"What did you say!?" Erza comes from under the guild to look up at Reve who was speaking. The second she pops out, Reve's eyes widen, but he remains as poised as possible. It was as if he's seen the most hated person in his life. "Titania."

"Oh joy, we'll never hear the end of this now." A female mage, that looked exactly like Nami, except taller spoke right after Reve. "I was hoping she wasn't here. Now we'll have to listen to Reve talk about how he wants to beat Titania."

"Shut up Taya." Reve scoffs back. "Anyways, you heard what I said. Laughing at us because of some games? We'll decimate this entire guild without trying."

The Mage next to Reve takes off his glasses and cleans them, even though they were perfectly fine. "And I'm not helping with any damages once they do it." Zalen, the one who just spoke, was shorter than the others. He had brown hair like Luke's and wore a green jacket and blue jeans. Under his jacket he had a brown shirt and wore white shoes. But Gajeel and Natsu continued looking at the last Mage, who was standing upside down under the roof the mages were perched on. Takeru. He noticed the two dragon slayers staring at him, but he doesn't change an expression to acknowledge. "Oi." Takeru called out to the two Dragons. "You never seen a stronger Mage before."

"Come again!? You wanna go pipsqueak!?" Gajeel said as he stalked towards him. Gajeel walked right by Luke but then stopped dead in his tracks with his eyes wide open. He just realized it but in that instant, Reve was right next to him, holding a gun to his temple.

Reve merely looks at Luke as he held the gun there. "Luke, you'll get all the chances you want at these clowns later."

"Reve."

"We don't have the okay from the old man yet. You already pushed the salamander right?"

"Yeah...I did."

Reve chuckles. "Then that's all you need. You got what you really wanted."

Natsu takes a step forward. "What are you talking about!? I hit him back worse anyways!"

By this time, Reve was walking off. "Show them Luke."

Sparks started to surge around Luke as he quickly engulfs himself in fire. "Geez Salamander, I didn't know you had so much power. Roar...!"

"What!?" Natsu looks on in pure shock

"Of the lightning flame dragon!" Luke lunges his face forward as his jaw drops, firing off a giant funnel of the lightning and fire mixture. It hurls towards Natsu.

"Idiot!"

Gray, from the right, tackles Natsu out the way as the funnel goes rushing down the street of Magnolia. Screams were heard after impact.

"...whoops."

"Why you!" Gajeel turns his arm into an iron pole as he extends it towards the unsuspecting Luke. But, out of the shadows Takeru pops up and catches the pole. His eyes were covered by the shadow of his hair until he looks up, emotionless.

"Roar."

"Gajeel look out!" Levy screamed from the entrance. Takeru had a tight grip on the iron pole as he reared his head back and then lunges it forward, spewing out a funnel of shadows towards Gajeel. "Of the shadow Dragon!"

"A dragon slayer?" Gajeel braces himself for impact as the roar slams into him. By this time, Reve was walking off. Erza turns to him and starts to run after the guns requip Mage to get answers but something grabs her foot. It was a shadow like vector wrapped around her foot. "Please no." Taya appeared behind her as more vectors surrounded Titania. "Just stand here until we leave." Upon her words, the vectors create a small dome over Erza, giving her no way out. "Listen up!" Taya yelled out as she stood on top of the dome. "We're gonna leave now, so don't attack us or I won't release this dome that Erza is under. God, it's always the boys that want to fight." Inside Erza could be heard trying to break it from the inside but to no avail. "Luke, Takeru, lets go."

"But I was just having fun." Takeru complained out.

Taya turns to him giving him and Luke a death glaring look, and in an animated fashion, Takeru and Luke was somehow already next to Reve and Zalen as Taya trailed behind them.

Luke looks back to see the celestial Mage looking on. He smirks as he looks at her, the two exchanging looks again, both with different meanings, all before White Eclipse leaves out of Magnolia.


	5. Chapter 5

White Eclipse

Chapter 5

"Is everyone okay!?" Lucy shouted as she looked around at her guildmates. A puddle of water appears from the ground as Juvia forms out of nowhere, now on top of Gray, who was on top of Natsu. "Gray-Sama is fine! Juvia has protected him." Gray gives Juvia the usual look when he's creeped out by her. "It wasn't necessary..."

"Neither was yours!" Natsu shouted as he pushed Gray off after Juvia stood up. "I was about to take that guy out!"

"No you weren't you idiot! You were just standing there!" By this time, as Natsu and Gray once again bump heads, over to the left Gajeel rises from the smokey ground shrugging off the attack from Takeru and showing signs that he was okay, although well upset at the attack. "W-what's going on?" Happy walks out the guild rubbing his eye sleepily, with Pantherlily right behind him.

Just then, a cracking sound his heard. Everyone's attention turns to the dome that was over Erza as it shatters. With the most ticked off look on her face, Erza stood in her Purgatory armor, breathing heavily in anger and frustration at how long it took to break the dome.

"E-Erza?" Lucy whimpered. Everyone could now tell that this wasnt going to go unpunished. Lucy decided to speak again. "Now I know this looks bad. But we should talk this over before we go and do anything hasty." As she finishes speaking, Kuro comes running from behind her to catch up with his team. He had waited for everyone to come to from their fight. He turns and bows to the entire guild as they all look on at him, some with the eyes of murder. "Sorry for all that! We aren't bad guys! We just have a lot of strong wills in our guild!" He waves and runs off but as he gives them an innocent smile, what he said next all that the salamander needed to hear. "You guys should train harder! That was too easy for them!" As Kuro vanishes out of view, Natsu's eyes perk up.

"I can't tell if he was being sincere, or sarcastic." Gray responded as he stood shirtless with Juvia behind him swooning over the view of the Ice maker.

"Okay, now that we're all here-" Before Lucy could finish, A gust of wind and a blur goes flying by her. She turns to see, barely catching glimpse of the two in the distance. "Wha!? Natsu! Happy! Stop!"

"Max speed Happy!"

"Aye sir!"

"Oh no! Not without me! I want that dragon slayer!" Gajeel quickly took off running. Pantherlily, swoops up behind him and grabs and lifts him into the air, also taking off quickly.

"That's good enough for me!" Gray yells out as he takes off running right behind them both. Juvia takes off too because, Gray. "Gray-Sama wait!" Erza looks at the sighing Lucy and merely shrugs, then takes off in her purgatory armor to cover ground. Lucy now stands alone as the others go back inside. "I'm not going...Hey wait!" Lucy then takes off, desperately trying to catch up with the others.

"You sure you don't want to ride Takeru?" Zalen chuckles as he looks down from the floating iron platform he manifested. Everyone else, even Kuro who quickly caught up was on the platform as Takeru was on foot, running back to the guild.

Takeru gives Zalen a low glare of annoyance. "You know I can't handle transportation Zalen."

"I know." Zalen smiles back. "It's just funny to ask."

Before Zalen could respond, his ears perk and he looks back. The /smallest/ of smirks come across his face as continues running, knowing that they were gonna be at the guild soon so there was no reason to stop; yet, he felt them both coming.

"Salamander. Black steel..."


	6. Chapter 6

White Eclipse

Chapter 6

"Hey guys." Takeru calls for the attention of his guild mates as White Eclipse comes into view. Reve looks back at the trailing Dragon Slayer. "What's up?"

"We're being followed. Have been for a while now. Just wanted to let you know before we get too relaxed."

"The fairies right?" Zalen asked while keeping his eyes forward. "Are you going to snipe them down Reve?"

"Nah... Lets let them follow us. They wanna fight on our turf? It'll be their biggest mistake. Who exactly Takeru? Do you know?"

"Right now it's just Salamander and Black Steel. But I'm sure the others are just behind, they're being carried by their exceeds."

"Your senses never cease to amaze me Takeru-San!" Kuro says with glee as he claps his hands together. "But I don't want to fight... I want noodles."

Reve laughs a bit as they come to the front yard area of white eclipse. As they jump off, Zalen manipulates the iron platform to stand up straight in the middle of the front yard area. Outside of the guild were a good bit of mages sparring with each other. A few others were outside enjoy the not so cold day of the snowy mountains. Off on the second step to the door of the guild sat Jaxon. In front of him, a teal haired female Mage and an ice blue haired male Mage was steadily exchanging punches. A little to the right was a blond haired female and dark haired Mage. The dark haired Mage was seen making copies of himself, sparring against them all as the female was conjuring visible winds around her. To the right of that action, sat another male on the railing. He had silver hair, and had on an all black attire, from his long sleeve shirt, down to his boots. In his hands he held a meatball sub, and bit into it with a pleasurable smile as he watched the mages spar. On the other side. Nami had targets set up on different stands, and practiced knocking them down with her light magic. They all looked up and stopped what they were doing as the other mages walked towards them. Nami puts her hand up to wave, but before anyone could say anything to them, Reve and the others turn around and look up into the sky, where two twinkles could be seen. It was Natsu and Gajeel closing in. "Who's that? The silver haired mage asked. He took another bite of his sub as he watched Natsu and Gajeel both land in their yard. Reve stood with a smirk.

"That, my dear demi god Cygnus. Is the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel; and the Black Steel, Gajeel Redfox."

"Oi!" Natsu shouted out. "We weren't done with you!

"Not done with us!?" Reve begins to laugh as he turns to his guild mates and points back at the two dragon slayers. "These guys got their asses kicked a few minutes ago, and he says that they aren't done!" An uproar of laughter from White eclipse happens as Natsu and Gajeel both snarl in anger at the mages.

"Stop laughing!"

Reve takes a step forward as he rolls up his sleeves to his forearm. As he speaks, the rest of fairy tail that chased after Natsu and Gajeel come to a running stop behind the dragon slayers. The guild members of White Eclipse are now all in attention behind Reve.

"Tell you what. You guys are supposed to be the strongest mages in all of Fiore. So taking on an entire guild who didnt even make it past prelims at the games shouldn't be hard right!?"

"Bring it on!" Natsu and Gajeel shouted in unison. The rest of Fairy Tail also readied themselves for a fight.

Reve starts to laugh again.

"Then again, you probably couldn't even take one of us."

And with that, Reve requips a small gun, points it in the air, and fires. A black flare shoots and explodes.

Lucy's the only one who watches it explode. "What's he doing?"

After a few seconds of silence, in a blur, a shadowy figure lands inbetween Fairy Tail and White Eclipse, staring down the fairies.

"You called me Reve. So don't try to hold me back..."


	7. Chapter 7

White Eclipse

Chapter 7

"Was calling him necessary? I wanted to fight to you know." Takeru sighs.

Reve steps back into view as the mysterious Mage was blocking him from the fairies. The Mage was tall, taller than average, but not a giant. He had bandages over his eyes. His black hair had strands just long enough to waver over the bandages. His pale white skin, nearly the same color as his bandages, complimented his black open jacket and purple under shirt. He also had on black pants and boots as well.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Fairy Tail." Reve shouted as he stood a little ways off from the mage. "Meet Arc! White Eclipses demon slayer!"

The title of Arc's magic put everyone in Fairy Tail in a state of shock.

"Demon.."

"Slayer.." Natsu and Gajeel both look at each other in confusion.

"You see dragons, you know your story of dragons and dragon slayers, and you've even had a taste of God Slayers and their background. Now it's time for you to learn about the naturally stronger of the three."

Natsu takes a step forward as he clenches a fist at Reve and Arc. "No one's stronger than us! And we'll prove it right here!"

"This guy is really dense." Cygnus takes another bite of his sub as he looks on.

"Enough talk." A dark purple magic circle appears under Arc. "Since Takeru wants to fight, I'll only take one or two mages, depending on who wants to go. You all can have the other victims."

As Arc speaks, the magical pressure from the circle begins to lightly shake the area. Dark clouds begin to cover the sky entirely and the snow fall begins to pick up as well.

"He's strong!" Gray shouts out while holding his ground from the shaking.

"Don't be fooled by the charade!" All of Fairy Tail looks back at Erza as she stares down Arc. "He's causing the tremors from his raw magic yes." She darts her eyes to the green haired Mage in the back, Jaxon who had two discreet magic circles out in his palms that no one but Erza noticed until now. "The mage back there...he's controlling the weather."

"A weather Mage?" Lucy looked on, puzzled.

"Juvia does not like the sound of this guy. Only Gray-Sama can control the ice!"

Gray side eyes her in annoyance. "Calm down Juvia."

Erza raises a sword. "Listen up! We have no ties with these guys! This is for Alzack! Don't one on one these guys! Work together instead."

On her word, every fairy tail mage prepares themself for battle.

Arc looks on emotionless.

"A free for all is it? That changed everything."

As the clouds completely cover the sky, an outline of a person appears beside Zalen. Zalen shakes a bit from the sudden appearance of the outline but then gives a small smile. "Night Walker."

"Ahehe. That never gets old. Hiya Zalen."

"Decided to join the fight eh?"

Night walker shuffles his feet in the snow, leaving the imprints there, showing that he was ready to go. "White Eclipse?"

Zalen smirks. "Or second place."

Natsu's fire begins flaring up as he stares down Arc. "Free for all it is. But you're messing with the greatest team in Fiore!"

"Nuh uh!" The Teal haired Mage yelled out.

"When White Eclipse works together...hold that thought." She walks down the line of White Eclipse mages until she reaches Reve, and pushes him over to the opposite side of Takeru.

"Selene what are you doing!?" Reve argues as he's being pushed against his will.

"There! Now! Like I said! When we work together, no one can beat us!"

"Enough talk!" Natsu screamed out.

"I agree. Darkness wave." With a wave of the hand, a black wave of magic goes rushing at the Fairy Tail mages as it leads a trail of the uprooted ground behind it...


	8. Chapter 8

White Eclipse

Chapter 8

The darkness wave causes everyone to scramble. The fight was on. A free for all between Fairy Tail and White Eclipse.

As Erza jumps away from the wave, the second she lands she rushes at Arc who had his back turned. Still in her normal armor, she raises a sword at the wide open Demon Slayer. As Erza swings down, Arc takes one whiff with his nose, then moves to the side, completely dodging Titania's vertical swipe.

"What?"

Arc turns his head to Erza and grins, and then swings a devastating high kick. Erza raises both arms to block the kick, but the power behind the kick still sends her sliding back through the snow.

"Gah..! As I thought..his blindfolded eyes give him heightened senses...so he can still hear me..."

"He's not your only problem!"

Jaxon yells out as a magic circle sprouts from under Erza, creating a Tornado as he sweeps Erza inside. The powerful walls of the tornado bounce Erza around as she lets out groans of pain, until a bright light shines through the tornado. Erza flies out of the tornado in her Heavens wheel armor. She then gives chase to Jaxon who was steadily Hoping and ducking backwards from her slashes.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Over to the left, Gray fires off a bunch of ice lances towards Reve, but a light begins shining in Reve's hands. Two pistols manifest out of thin air, and he begins shooting straight through the lances, causing the remaining ice shards to fall harmlessly to the ground. He then begins aiming at the maker mage himself, and continues fire as Gray runs to his right to dodge the fire. A few of Reve's bullets slam into Gray's leg as he topples over, yelling in pain from the shots.

"Gray-Sama!" Juvia yells out.

"You should worry about yourself instead of Gray." As Cygnus speaks, a magic circle comes under Juvia and she's now being fierce full held down by a push of gravity. Cygnus takes his final bite from his meatball sub, even licking his fingers as he readies himself. "Alright lets finish this off."

"Ice make: Hammer!" Before Cygnus could react, Gray had thrown a giant hammer straight for him. Cygnus stands with wide eyes, appeared to be a sitting duck, until the ice blue haired mage comes out of nowhere, stepping inbetween Cygnus and the ice hammer. He smirks and catches the incoming hammer, sliding back a bit from the force, but now holds it up with one hand.

"Waiston.. My bad, I was sloppy."

"It's okay." The ice blue haired Mage replied. "You gave me a meal, and that's what matters."

"A meal?" Gray looked on in confusion for a bit, until it finally hit him. "You mean you're a..!?"

Waiston bites a giant chunk out of the hammer and swallows. Nearly instantly, his body becomes covered in ice like scales at random spots, mostly his eyes. His hair that was tied back, along with his white and blue jacket, now billows up due to the magic pressure being released.

"Heh. Roar.. Of the Frozen Dragon!" Waiston fires the giant funnel of ice magic and shards directly towards Juvia instead of Gray. Juvia was unable to move due to the gravity.

"Juvia!" Gray rushes in and stands in front of Juvia with his arms spread out, taking nearly the entire blow of the Frozen Dragon's roar.

"Gray-Sama!" Gray goes falling back into Juvia, causing them both to hit the ground hard.

"Gray-Sama! Wake up!" Juvia begins to shake Gray frantically as the other two mages now stand over them with smirks on their faces.

Back over to the right, Natsu and Gajeel stand off with Takeru and Selene.

"I want the guy." Natsu and Gajeel both said in unison. Already they started off disagreeing as they both bump heads, now arguing over who was fighting Takeru. Selene puffs out her cheeks, feeling disregarded.

"Hey! Did you not hear!? We're a team anyways! We're taking you both down together."

Takeru merely shrugs at Selene's words. "Lets just defeat these phonies... I'm hungry."

"We have pie in the kitchen Tak."

"Is it key lime?"

"No this one is a different flavor. You need to broaden your taste buds."

"I only want key lime."

Gajeel was stuck between dumbfounded and insulted. "Theyre arguing about pie. And I thought you were dense Salamander... Salamander?"

Natsu was already half way towards Takeru and Selene before Gajeel realized it. He leaps into the air and rears his head back. "Roar, of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu shoots out a well sized funnel of flames towards both the mages. Takeru just stares at it. At the last second, Selene jumps in front, taking the full force of the roar, but when everything clears, she's not only unharmed, but she was coated in diamonds. Natsu takes a step back in shock. Selene uncovers her face from the diamonds with a smile. Gajeel also smirks as well.

"Never mind Salamander. You can have the boy. She's mine." Gajeel and Selene exchange looks of excitement and anticipation as they stand off. Natsu and Tak do the same, except Natsu held a serious look while Takeru stood there emotionless.

"Taya, why aren't we doing anything!? I want to fight too!" Her sister Nami pleaded out. The two sisters stood next to each other. Nearly identical. The dark haired mage, Michio was also standing with his arms crossed, leaned across the railing. Aira m, the blonde haired Mage was right in front of him, also watching.

"I'm not fighting because it's too crowded." Taya replied. "By all means don't let me stop you.

"It's about to be a massacre. There's too many of us, it's uncalled for." Michio said as he shifted a bit on the railing.

Aira sighed. "I just hope non of us gets hurt. I trained hard today and I'm tired. I don't have the healing magic in me today."

Finally, near a cliffs edge. Stood Luke and Lucy.

"You're a celestial wizard right? This'll be interesting at least."

Lucy nodded. "Don't underestimate me!"

Luke took a wider stance as Lucy pulled out two keys. Luke grins as he erupts in flames.

"Well then Lucy. Lets see what you got!"


	9. Chapter 9

White Eclipse

Chapter 9

"Gate of the bull, Gate of the scorpion! I open thee! Taurus! Scorpio!"

"We are!"

"MOOOOO! I'll protect your nice body from this guy Lucy! I can see it in his eyes he wants it!"

Luke jumps back from Taurus's comment "Wh-What!? No!"

"So now Lucy isn't attractive!?" Taurus looks at Luke with evil eyes as he towers over him as Luke repeatedly sweat drops.

Lucy facepalms. "Taurus just attack!" Taurus raises his axe and spins it over his head. He then swings down at Luke, but the brown haired mage rolls hard out the way. Taurus's hit was so strong it caused a crack in the ground but no one really paid much attention as Scorpio followed Taurus's strike with a sand buster. "We are!"

With quick thinking, Luke summoned a mirror, that reflected the sand buster right back at Lucy, causing Scorpio to have to step in and take the blunt of the attack.

"Scorpio!"

"We...are." Scorpio returns back through his gate.

Luke then charges for Lucy, but Taurus quickly cuts the Mage off, now swinging his axe down repeatedly at Luke, but the nimble Mage dodges each blow, causing the bull to repeatedly slam his axe into the ground, Causing the ground under the snow to slowly break apart. Luke slides back once again as he grunts in frustration. "I can beat her spirits all day, but that doesn't help if I can't get to her.."

Natsu and Gajeel continue with their stand off with Selene and Takeru. No one moves, waiting for the other to begin. Or atleast, that's what Natsu and Gajeel were waiting on..

"So this pie.." Takeru says while staring emotionless at his opponents. "Is there anyway we can turn it to key lime?"

Selene huffs. Not taking her eyes off of Natsu or Gajeel neither. "Tak...eat the damn pie when it's time and you'll like it."

"I don't wanna like it. I want key lime."

"That's the only pie you've ever had! Of course it's what you want!"

"Will you too shut up about pie!" Gajeel roars out as he charges Selene, turning his fist into an iron pole and extending it towards her torso. Selene puts her arms in an X formation as the iron pole slams into her, dragging her back a good bit before coming to a stop. At the same time, Natsu had charged Takeru, exchanging punches with the shadow dragon slayer. Takeru ducks a punch and comes with a roaring uppercut to Natsu's chin, sending him into the air. Natsu uses the momentum of the uppercut to flip backwards and as soon as he touches the ground he lunges forward, palming the face of Takeru and shoving him into the ground. We Tak hits the ground, Natsu continues driving him back into the snow with his fiery hand until Takeru grabs his forearm and forcefully pulls it off his face. The shadow dragon slayer then, slams a right foot into the Salamander's chest, flipping back to his feet in the process.

"Gihehe." Gajeel stands across from Selene as he points his right arm to the ground. His arm morphs into his patented Iron Dragon sword. He leaps in the air and swings it straight down at Selene. Selene merely smirk and puts her arms up over her head. Gajeel was kind of disappointed as he continues to swing down, but then his eyes perk up as Selene's arms, turn into diamond structures. The sword slams into her arms, but don't even make a dent through the diamonds as Selene slides back from impact. As she puts her arms down slowly, she smirks. "Looks like a long day for you Gajeel."

"Gihe.. Don't let one strike fool you."

Gajeel said in a prideful tone, but before he could throw another strike, from her left diamond arm, Selene starts firing off miniature diamond spikes towards Gajeel, leaving no time to dodge. Gajeel puts his arms up in an X formation to block as the barrage of diamonds slam into him and creating a cloud of smoke.

"Roar.." Selene stands strong, appreciating her work on Gajeel. A little too much as Gajeel fires a Roar of the Iron Dragon through the smoke and towards Selene. Selene eyes widen as impact is made. Causing a cloud of smoke itself.

"Like I said." Gajeel walks out his side of the smoke. "Don't let one strike fool you. I'm made of the hardest metal known to man."

"Hardest metal, sure." Gajeel's eyes widen as Selene's eyes appear through the smoke, seemingly pure red until she steps out the smoke,

Covered once again in her diamond scales. "But there's no harder /substance/ than that of diamonds, black steel."

Erza goes sliding back, now in her purgatory armor, she stabs her spiked mace into the ground to stop her from sliding anymore. Erza was being double teamed, but she only saw Jaxon. She continuously glances over at Arcturus, but he hasn't moved since the kick he threw. As she turned back to Jaxon, she felt someone brush against her shoulder. She takes a wild swing, still hitting nothing. Then, out of nowhere she's hunched over from a hard shot to the abdomen.

"C-coward!"

"Excuse me for my fighting methods." A voice said beside her. It was all she wanted to hear. Erza quickly grabs the invisible Mage and slams a right hook into his jaw. The Mage goes sliding back in the ground, his back leaving a trail of brought up snow. Erza watches the trail and requips into her fire empress armor. She gives chase and looks for a stab to the spot where the invisible Mage stopped, but she quickly has to change direction as Jaxon comes back in the picture, firing off a stream of lightning towards Titania. She moves out the way in time, and stares down the meteorology made Thats been giving her a hard time...

It's seems as Gray and Juvia have admitted defeat as they stay seated, looking up at Waiston and Cygnus with disgust.

"Ice maker huh? Not bad. Just ran into the wrong opponent."

Gray crosses his arms as he turns away. "Just so you know...I never lose to the same opponent twice. I'll challenge you again. I had distractions."

Cygnus laughs. "Damn man, she's sitting right next to you."

I know.. "Gray darts his eyes at Juvia. She lowers her head in shame as he burns a hole through her with his side glare.

"Wait..." Gray looks around a bit, noticing someone was missing. "Where's...where is...Reve!"

Even Waiston and Cygnus were confused as they looked around for the guns mage. And right on cue, a small, but powerful bullet of magic comes roaring in at a high speed; right over Gray's head; right between Natsu, Gajeel, Selene and Tak, stopping their fighting, and right by Jaxon, shocking him.

"ERZA!" Natsu screams out to Titania, but it was too late. Erza falls back into the snow, not moving as the bullet pierces her left shoulder.

"Oi..." Reve comes walking back from the distance, now being seen behind the cloud of rushing snow. "Zalen, remind me to work on my aim. That shot was embarrassing to me."

Gray looks on with trembling eyes. "How...ruthless."

"Erza is hurt!" Juvia screamed out as she ran over to her. Natsu looked back over to Reve, his anger already taking over his senses.

"That was to far! You'll pay for that!" Natsu runs full speed at Reve but then everything comes to a halt as a cracking sound his heard.

"Lucy...don't move."

Luke's advice went into one ear and out the other as Lucy looked down, realizing that the ground was breaking apart. She yelped in fear. "Oh no...!" She was standing with her back to the cliff. Taurus immediately goes back into his gate, but it doesn't help the pressure any as the ground continues to break apart.

Lucy begins to run to get past the cracking ground. "Lucy!" Natsu immediately changes direction and sprints towards Lucy. As the ground finally breaks apart, Lucy lunges for the edge as Natsu also lunges for Lucy...


	10. Chapter 10

White Eclipse

Chapter 10

"Natsu!"

Lucy misses the edge, and was about to plummet until he reached his arm out and caught her.

"I got you."

Everyone but Juvia and Jaxon stop and look over at the ledge as Lucy was being pulled up..by Luke Cloud.

"T-thanks!" Lucy said in a sigh of relief. "I thought I was a goner."

"Well, don't mention it." The copy Mage smiled as he was sitting down in the snow with Lucy in front of him. "I'm just glad I was able to catch you."

Natsu comes sliding in late, his face planted in the snow until he looks up at Lucy.

"Oi! Lucy! Are you okay!?"

She nodded. "Hai. Luke saved me."

"But.." Natsu blinked in confusion as he looked at Luke. "Why?"

"Why!?" Luke was lost at the question. "We aren't bad guys or anything. You followed us here for a fight so you got one. Sure there are some here that are more brutal than others, like Reve and arc-"

"Reve!" Natsu cuts Luke off as he turns back to the Guns Mage that shot Erza right through the shoulder.

Reve looks over at Natsu with his sniper rifle still hanging on his shoulder. "You got a problem kid? Don't enter a fight if you can't handle the consequences."

Natsu begins walking towards Reve with the most angered look in his eyes. Reve just stands there, smirking as Natsu came closer and closer.

"Wait for me, Salamander." Gajeel, over to the right starts ripping apart the iron platform that Zalen created a bit ago with his teeth, swallowing it down. Iron scales begin to form over the Iron Dragon Slayer. "You'll pay for that."

Reve simply averts his eyes to Gajeel now, still smirking. "Arc, if you please."

"I know what to do. Don't rush me."

Arc speaks as a giant pitch black magic circle appears, causing the entire area to shake vigorously. Everyone holds their ground, Luke pulls Lucy away from the edge just in case of a repeat of the ground breaking. All eyes were on Arc.

"Arc stop!" Taya screams from near the guild. "You're not this person anymore! I thought you got rid of this magic anyways! It was just a fight, there's no need for this!"

All of Fairy Tail looks at Taya as she yells at Arc, confused to what's about to happen.

Arc simply looks over at Taya with his head tilted back and smiles.

She tries again. "Arcturus! I know how much fun it was, I know you miss it! But we aren't in that guild anymore! Do NOT do this!"

"What is she yelling at him for? What's he about to do?" Gray stayed seated, dumbfounded as the area's shaking picked up.

Everyone continued looking on until Arc lifted his right arm up to his bandages that covered his eyes.

"Right. Lets do this."

Arc tugs on the bandages, but before he could take them off, a hand was placed on his shoulder. This freezes Arc on the spot. Reve and the rest of White Eclipse stand there wide eyed and even shaking. Arc even twitches a bit from so many facts. The fact that he's standing in the magic circle with no problem. And the fact of who it was now behind him. All of Fairy Tail look on as well, still trying to figure out the big deal.

"Drop the circle. The fight is over, Fairy Tail lost."

Arc snaps out of his twitch and snarls a bit, but he drops the magic circle and the area stops shaking. He also drops his hand and doesn't take off the bandages.

Reve continues to tremble bit by bit as he looks on. "Sidney.."

"Sidney?" Natsu looks back in confusion as he stares at the mage that stood behind Arc. The mage had ghostly white hair, black eyes and a pointed nose. His mouth was covered by a big red scarf. His pale skin dawned a black sleeveless shirt, showing the skinny physique that had Fairy Tail wondering why everyone feared him. His black pants had another red scarf wrapped around his waist. The end of the scarf flailing off due to the wind. Black boots covered his feet.

"Everyone go home." Sidney spoke aloud. "The red haired girl needs treatment. And you won't find it here."

Gajeel looks on, the longer Sidney stood there, the more eerie he became. Gajeel begins to get a chill down his spine from staring at the Mage. "Who is that guy?"

Everyone.. "Zalen speaks as he fixes his glasses, keeping his eyes off of Sidney. "Meet the SS class Mage of White Eclipse...and my brother. Sidney Castle."

"SS!? Like Gildarts!?" Natsu was now in a frenzy of panic. He stared at Sidney as he tried to gather what just went on, chills now going down his spine.

Juvia now walks back to the group with Erza draped over her shoulder. Gajeel takes her from there.

"Once again. White Eclipse is done with this fight." He looks around at his guildmates. "I expect all of you to stop the fighting for the day. Aira, show them the way out so they don't get lost."

"H-Hai." The blonde hair Mage bowed. She then ran over to the group and bowed again. "Whenever you're ready."

"This isn't over!" Natsu yelled out. Gray limps over, grabbing Natsu by the shoulder. As Natsu looks back, he merely shakes his head. Natsu looks over at the passed out Erza, and then doesn't say another word, as he follows Aira along with everyone else, out of the snowy mountains.

Reve was grinning as they left,

But as he turned to walk back to the guild, a hard "SLAP!" Was heard as his face now had a red hand mark on his cheek. In shock he held his face and looked down at Tayakata.

"Stop corrupting Arc. In fact, don't ever go near him again without someone around. He could of killed everyone here." Before Reve could respond, Taya was already walking off back inside the guild.

Waiston screams out as he runs back to the guild, everyone else walking back inside as well. "Looks like someone's sleeping in his room tonight!"

"You know who we're missing?" Zalen looks around not seeing Kuro at all. "Where did Kuro go?"

"They aren't gonna be mad for you ditching them during a fight are they?" A black haired mage inside of White eclipse sat next to Kuro. He had on a black jacket over a red undershirt. Black pants and shoes. Over his pants were two knee braces.

"I'm sorry Zain, but the noodles! They were calling me!" Kuro smiles happily with love in his eyes as he spins some noodles into his chop sticks and blows on them. He then slurps them up. Upon swallowing, his eyes light up in amazement. "Why fight when you can eat noodles!"

Zain just smiles, resting his head on his hand while watching Kuro enjoy his noodles. "I hope no one is too injured from he scuffle outside." The mages walk in as he says so. Zain turns to view them all. "They look okay. No work for me today then, that's good."

Reve scoffs at Kuro.

"I knew this is what you were doing. Eating noodles. I miss the old Kuro."

"There you go again! Stop!" Taya shouted. "Why would you want that?"

"Hey you need to relax. I'm just saying. There's nothing wrong with a bad side. Right Kuro?"

Kuro was way too busy eating to even listen to what was going on. "I wonder how many flavored of noodles there are in the world."

After a second of silence. Everyone in the room falls over from the fact he was too into noodles to listen to the arguing.

"Okay, what if we find a flavor mage, and we can-"

"Tak..one bite." Selene takes a fork, and stabs it in the pie. "It's cherry. Just one bite."

"...fine." Takeru takes the pie, and hesitantly lifts the fork and places it on his tongue. A couple seconds of nothing past. Then, out of nowhere, Tak was seen in the corner of the kitchen huddled up with the pie steadily eating it. "Mine, no one else's..."

Selene falls over, but then can't help but smile as she watches Takeru devour the pie. "That kid.."


	11. Chapter 11

White Eclipse

Chapter 11

The Fairy Tail group begins their walk back to the guild, with White Eclipses Aira leading the way. She steps lively with her hands behind her back, skipping occasionally to her own thoughts and humming.

"You guys really took a beating back there Huh?" Aira looked up to the sky, realizing the clouds were beginning to clear, which meant they were almost out in the open.

Gray scoffs at the blonde haired Mage, but it was Natsu that spoke. "Shut up. We can beat you guys no sweat. And we will. I don't care if we have to wait until the next grand magic games. We'll show you who's the stronger guild."

"You know, if it wasn't for Tayakata, you'd all be dead."

"You're talking about that Arcturus guy right?" Gajeel asked. "What was he about to do. I never seen a magic circle like that."

Aira simply raises a finger as she kept walking. "The void."

"The void?" The two Fairy Tail Dragon slaeyrs asked in unison.

Aira nodded. "You remember when Reve said that Arc was a demon slayer? Well demons, unlike the others, aren't from EarthLand. They come from the underworld. They escaped into EarthLand by using the void. Arc found away to send people there, where you would of been torn apart by countless of demons."

"You're telling me, we were about to be sent to the underworld just now!?" Gray exclaimed. That guy isn't human!

"We don't think so either." Aira then gives a soft smile as she looked up into the now clear sky. "But he's White Eclipse. And he's family. I'm glad we saved him from that place."

Lucy tilted her head in curiosity. "What place?"

"T-" Aira immediately stopped. Knowing she wasn't supposed to say. She was caught in the middle of conversation and almost let it out. "Nothing...it's not important. We're here, it a straight shot back to Magnolia from here." Aira waves as she starts backing away and then turns to walk away.

"So it seems White Eclipse has a secret." Gajeel looks back at Aira as she walks off.

"Lets not bother them about it. I'm sure we have secrets of our own in the guild." Lucy replied.

Gajeel still gives a skeptical look.

"I'll find out myself." He thinks to himself.

After they reach the guild and minutes Pass, Wendy walks out of the guild's infirmary, closing the door behind her as she looks on at the eyes of her guildmates as they waited for Erza's update. She nodded and then gave a faint smile.

"She's okay. She'll be healed fully within the day."

The entire guild gave a sigh of relief as Master Makarov walked into the center of the room and hopped up onto the table.

"Listen up!" The old man yelled as he raised a hand in the air. "Hurting our nakama, my children, for sheer pleasure or for any reason outside of sanctioned fights is one thing I can not stand! I will have a talk with White Eclipse's master. Until then.." His stare becomes mean as he looks around the guild. "They are /not/ your friends. You brats already break all the rules; so the next time you see one of these mages, give them /the/ Fairy Tail welcome that we give all our rival guilds."

"Aye! I'm all fired up!" Natsu screams out. Just then a giant fist slams him into the ground.

"And try not to lose next time!" Makarov shouted. Natsu laid on the ground KO'ed, twitching a bit before he hops up again with a knot on his head.

Makarov then pulls out a scroll. "Now then, listen up. We've been requested, along with another guid, to form a team and take on a mission. This mission has been linked to a dark guild, called...Silent Sanctum. As soon as Erza heals up I need her, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Gajeel, and Juvia to head to Talhan forest."

"Talhan? Nothing is in there but dead trees. That place is deserted. This may end up another dead job anyways." Gray protested. Until Makarov had another giant fist ready to strike.

"On the other hand!" Gray says while backing away from Makarov. "This is for Fiore's safety.."

Makarov nods. "So, tomorrow, you all set out for Talhan forest. Make me proud."

.

.

.

.

Reve was sitting at the guild's main table as the other mages gathered around for breakfast. Nami looks around as everyone ate quietly. Not a fan of silence. She decided to break it.

"So what's everyone doing today!?"

Tak swallowed the food in his mouth and responded. "I'm gonna finish this meal, train, and then go on a job. Alone of course."

"No you're not." Reve replied as he put more food in his mouth. Takeru merely raised a brow at him as Reve readied to speak.

"We have our first request from the council themselves. Like I said, if we took every job possible, like we did, we would get noticed by the council."

Taya narrows her eyes. "How long have you had this request by the way."

"Since we got back from beating up the fairies yesterday."

"And you're just now telling us?"

"Well /Tayakata./ I'm sure no matter when I told you, you and Nami wouldn't mind coming along."

"Nami isn't going on such a mission."

Nami puffed out her cheeks. "And why not!?"

"Yeah, why not!?" Reve said in a mocking tone.

Taya glared at them both. "Nami I'm not gonna fight with you."

"Great!" Nami hops up out her seat and quickly begins walking to her room. "I'll go get ready!" She closes her door quickly.

"Nami-! Ugh.."

Reve smirked. "Well now that the two sisters are in. Takeru?"

Takeru simply nodded.

"Nice. Luke too."

"Alright, lets do this." Luke stood, excited to go.

"Sit down /hero./" Reve barked at Luke, referring to when he saved Lucy from falling.

[FlashBack]

As Sidney was talking, Luke turned to Lucy and gave a small smile. Lucy looked back at Luke with a confused look as to why he was smiling.

"If you're going to brag about winning, or saving me, then-"

"I'm not doing that at all, Lucy." Luke smiles again. "But I do have a proposition."

Lucy looks on, skeptical of what Luke was about to say next. "Well I guess I do owe you from saving me.."

"Then.." Luke hesitated at first. "Let me take you out sometime. You know..when things between the guild aren't as hectic."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Take me out? A d-date?" Lucy hesitated for a while, but she knew that she owed him her life, and she didnt want to actually owe him for life. So she nodded. "Okay, I'll go, on one date." Luke then takes her hand, and puts it in his and gives it a light shake. He smiles. "Then it's a date."

.

.

"Oh yeah...hero. Heh." Luke snaps out of his Flashback as Reve continues talking.

"Now. That's Me, Luke, Taya and Nami and Tak. Who else?" He pretends to ponder as if he didn't know who he was going to pick. "Selene I guess."

Selene glared at Reve.

"Please, I was probably your first pick."

"And last but not least!" Reve shouted, ignoring Selene's statement. "Kuro! Lets break you out of your nice guy slump."

"Actually," Zalen cuts in. "Kuro said he felt bad for ditching the brawl yesterday, so he went on a quick job or something to make up for it."

"Oh." Reve looked around. "Well in that case." He then pointed at a vanilla-blonde haired mage that was sitting near the end of the table, quietly eating her food still. "Heather, yes."

Heather continues chewing until she swallows the food in her mouth.

"So be it. If it will stop me from being the newbie."

"Alright!" Reve stood up, finishing the last of his meal. "We leave later this afternoon! Everyone be ready by then!"

"Fire make: Tornado!"

After a big explosion, Kuro is already sitting down with a bowl of noodles and a smile as a giant monster falls to the ground, burnt to a crisp. His job was complete just like that.

"Nothing like noodles after a job well done! Well...there's nothing like noodles ever!"

As Kuro began eating his noodles aloud, a dark figure steps out from behind a couple of trees. As he came into the clear, he showed to be a tall,

Well built blonde. He wore an unzipped hoodie with no shirt under and jeans with boots. The man walked over to the sitting Kuro. Kuro turns, and looks at the man with a mouth full of noodles. He slurps them up wildly and smiles. "Hi! Who are you!?"

The man just looks at Kuro for a bit, his demeanor threw the man off. Usually no one would be so calm to him walking up to people.

"Hey...I'm Daityas." He answered while pulling his hood off his head.

Kuro smiles and hands him the bowl he was eating. "Want some?" Daityas was now more confused than anything. Why wasn't he scared? Or atleast defensive. Daityas appearance screamed anything but friendly.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's noodles!"

"What are noodles?"

Kuro's eyes light up in disbelief. "You...you never had noodles before!? Eat them now!"

Daityas stares at the bowl of steaming hot noodles and then, a second later, he eats the entire content in an entire gulp.

Kuro stared. "That wasn't hot?"

"Nah." Daityas replied as he wipes his mouth. I"'m a type of fire mage, so no big deal. But these noodles, they're amazing, is there more?"

The second after that statement Kuro hands Daityas another bowl as he held his own. Daityas looks on for a while, and then sits down after taking the bowl. "This is amazing, I didn't know there were food out there like this, besides berries and animals."

Kuro looks up after slurping up another batch of noodles. "Really?! You should come to my guild one day! Tayakata cooks and-"

Daityas ears completely shut off as soon as he heard her name. And a sadistic grin comes across his face. "Tayakata.."

"Yeah! She's great. A bit scary, but you get used to it. "

"Alright." Daityas stood up after finishing his bowl. He put on the most generous smile he could muster. "I'll come to your guild to visit. Tomorrow. Sounds good?"

Daityas was already walking away as Kuro waved and replied.

"Alright! See you tomorrow Dait!"

"Dait?" Daityas stopped for a second, but merely chuckles and keeps walking. "Tayakata...time to come home. I know you have Arc too."


	12. Chapter 12

White Eclipse

Chapter 12

"Erza.. Are you sure you're okay to go on this mission." Wendy looked up at the scarlet haired mage in concern as they stopped at the southern outskirts of Talhan forest.

"I'm fine Wendy." Erza replied, giving her a nod and a smile for reassurance. She then looks towards the forest, or what used to be the forest. The land was now nothing but rotted trees. No animals, no grass. Nothing but tall trees without leaves.

"Talhan forest. Once a rich environment years ago. Now a ghost of it's former self."

"If it's been like this for years, why has it never been investigated?" Lucy asks as she walks to the first tree, peeling at it, but not really paying attention to what she was peeling at.

Erza began to walk forward, into the forest before she stopped and looked around again. "It was told in the briefing, that this forest was investigated, by one of the magic councils captains. But that captain said it was because of natural occurrences so they left it alone. But now, activity that's been linked to the dark guild we're after has been happening here. No idea what though."

Natsu slams a fist into his open palm. "Well what are we waiting for!? Lets go in there, find them, and bust them up!"

"Aye sir!" Happy jumps up, raising a small paw in the air. He, Charla and Lily obviously accompanying their respective dragon slayers. The gang starts walking into the forest, Lucy bringing up the rear as she stops scratching the hollow tree. What she didn't see as she followed, since she wasn't really paying attention, was the bike crystal like substance under the hollow tree.

"Lets split up. We're more effective that way." Erza looks around at her team. Gajeel already starts walking to the east. "Me and Lily will go over here."

"Happy! Lucy! Lets take this way!" Natsu pointed to the west as he began running off. Happy flying right behind him.

"Hey wait up!" Lucy runs after the two, leaving the remaining four.

Erza then nods and looks at the remaining obvious teams.

"It looks like me and Wendy will take the middle of the forest. You two take the North."

"You..two...oh.." Gray turns around slowly to see a swooning Juvia with hearts in her eyes.

"Finally! Juvia and Gray-Sama actually start a job together. This is the start to an eternal love with Gray-Sama!"

Gray gives a stale look as Erza, Wendy and Charla are already leaving. "I doubt it..."

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.

.

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"Splitting up is a horrible idea." Luke protested. "I feel we should explore these woods together."

Reve simply smirks. "Well there's a reason you aren't leading this group. In fact, Luke, how about you go alone. Take the east."

White eclipse entered Talhan forest from the North. They all stood around as Reve and Taya began delegating things. Luke, with no comeback he saw fit without getting hit, began walking east, cursing under his breath.

"Well now that Luke is headed east. How do you guys want to split up?"

Tak began walking to the west.

Reve shouted back to him. "Takeru you can't go alone, we already have Luke doing that!"

Heather starts walking in the direction Luke took off in. "Let him go alone then. I'll catch up to Luke."

Reve scratches his head. "Oi...so that leaves us four."

"I'm not going with Reve, Taya. Not alone. I'll kill him." Reve laughs boisterous as Selene crosses her arms from her own comment. Taya sighs. "That's fine. Me and Reve will take the south. You and Nami take the middle of the forest."

Reve rolls up his sleeves up to his elbows. "So it's settled then. Lets all get moving."

.

.

.

"Erza..why me? I'm sure you'd rather go alone.." Wendy looked at the ground as the continued walking towards the middle of the forest. "Wendy, stop that. I believe in your abilities as much as anyone else's. especially since we may be up against an actual dark guild. We need your abilities now more than ever. You're not the little Wendy anymore. You're one of our strongest mages."

Wendy then smiles as Erza's words comfort her. "Aye! I'll do my best from now on too!"

"Good girl now, keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual."

"This whole forest is unusual." Charla groaned.

"Man. There is nothing here but dead trees." Natsu sighs as he puts his hands on top of his head.

"But we just started walking." Happy rebutted, even though he was flying.

"You're not even walking, you're flying."

"So!?"

Lucy interjects as they come across a steep hill, leading to even more dead trees.

"Will you two stop arguing before someone hears us? We want to find them, not them find us!"

"But now you're yelling Lucy. Don't stand too close to the edge Lucy, you might break it like the ice!" Happy covered his mouth to stifle the laughter.

"THAT WASNT ME THAT WAS TAURUS!" As she yelled, Happy's premonition came true as the edge she was standing over broke off. Lucy let out a loud scream as she began rolling down the hill. "We should see if she's okay." Natsu says while watching her tumble.

"You said that like it was an option." Happy replied.

As she finally came to the flat ground she checked herself to make sure she was okay and sighed in relief...then she starts rolling down hill again the other way. As she screamed all the way down the hill, she rolled into a small cave, landing in a hallway. The sides of the walls to the hallway had torches hanging off of them.

"W-where...what is this place?" She stands, but then grabs her left ankle in pain and immediately sits back down.

"I think I broke it."

"We should get that looked at."

Lucy freezes up as shivers go down her spine. She slowly turns around. Standing behind her, is a man with silver hair. He had a slim built, but a vicious yet calm demeanor.

"W-who are-"

"Shhh.." Another male puts a finger to her lips. "You were looking for Silent Sanctum right?" This male had red hair, and nearly pure black eyes with small white pupils. His neck had a scar nearly all the way around it. In his mouth was a lit cigarette. "I'm Hokori, and this here is the man himself, Aloysis. But we call him Aloy for short. We'll lead you to Silent Sanctum." The taunting in his voice was so obvious, and he wasn't trying to hide it. Lucy began sliding back slowly until Aloy steps on her hurt ankle, causing her to let out a loud scream.

"Damn you're loud. That's exciting." Aloy smirked as he stepped down a bit harder. "Scream a bit louder for me." Lucy complies as she felt the pain shooting through her ankle. Aloy finally stops as he begins walking off. "Hokori. Bring her. I'm sure she's not alone, so I'll gather the others and we can finally have some fun in this dump."

"Aye aye lead captain." Hokori says in a sarcastic tone, causing Aloy to look back with a low glare. As Aloy leaves, Hokori stands over Lucy with a sadistic grin. His right arm, then begins to glow. It expands three times it's size as it now looks like the arm isn't even his. As if it used to belong to someone else.

"What are you!?" Lucy continues backing up, but she couldn't move fast enough to get away. "I told you my name girl. Now, lets get you set up. I have a friend who specializes in torture." Hokori grabs Lucy by her hurt ankle as he drags her off. Lucy lets out an agonizing scream. A scream so loud, the sound flows out of the cave. Natsu and Happy were slowly making their way down the hill, thinking she wasn't in too bad of shape. Until they heard the scream, stopping Natsu dead in his tracks, his eyes and ears perked, even though happy didnt hear a thing.

"Lucy!"


	13. Chapter 13

White Eclipse

Chapter 13

Luke continues to walk through the forest, still cursing Reve, aloud this time as he was alone. He finally gets over his conflict and begins actually looking around as he walks along under the rotted trees. "It's one thing for a forest to die. But there really is nothing here, no bugs, nothing." As he takes a few more steps, he stops at the edge of a lower hill and turns, having heard something behind him. He already assumed that it wasn't a guild mate since Reve made him go alone." Roar of the Ice Dragon! "The copy mage fires a funnel of ice down his previous path. As the ice funnel destroys the trees in the way Luke waits to get a reaction, but the steps still get louder. "Idiot." A female's voice calls out. Luke steps back to ready himself, but that step back was too close to the edge as he slips and begins falling down the lower hill until a hand catches him.

"Huh!?" He looks up as he dangled from the hill to see Heather holding his arm. "Heather.. Thanks."

"Screw off. What's the big idea of attacking me?"

"I thought you were someone else."

"Reve? Or an actual dark mage?"

"Either one." Luke smiles as Heather looks past him. Seeing a small cave at the bottom of the hill.

"Look."

Luke turns his head back down to cave he now sees. He nods.

"Lets go check it out."

Moments later, Luke and Heather are crawling through the cave until they come to the edge. They both look over to see two female mages. The one they knew of, Lucy, was chained against a wall unconscious. The other, was sitting in a chair across from Lucy, filing her nails.

"If she doesn't wake up soon, I'm joining the fun outside. We brought you a toy Myou. You can torture her until you decide to kill her Myou. Tch. Cretins, she hasn't even woken up yet." The female sighs. Her black hair draped over her shoulders. She seemed like a normal person, except that she was basically wearing rags. A torn up shirt that exposed her slim stomach, and ripped pants that stopped at her shins. She didn't even have sandals or shoes on. "Just wake up already girl. Before I call it a night with you."

Luke and Heather exchange looks, then began to whisper towards on another.

"That's a Silent Sanctum mage no doubt." Heather nods at Luke's words.

"Okay, we should get your girlfriend out of there before that woman does any real damage."

"She's not my-!"

The female's head lifts from the noise. Heather had cut off Luke by placing her hand over his mouth but Myou stands out of her chair.

"It seems we have guest blondie." Luke and Heather get ready to jump down, but instead of facing the entrance they were hiding at, Myou turns to the hallway, as the screams of others were being heard, as well as explosions. In the next few seconds, an explosion of fire comes roaring down the hallway. When it clears, Natsu stands there with a floating Happy. Natsu was already encased in flames entirely as he stared at Myou, seeing Lucy chained up in his peripherals. Myou stands there unphased and emotionless. "She must belong to you." Myou says while rotating her wrist. "Well I was going to torture her but she's sleeping. But since you're awake, you'll have to do."

Natsu averts his eyes to Lucy to get a good look, then back at Myou. "I'm going to burn you to ash. You'll pay for holding Lucy like this."

.

.

.

An explosion of magic happens out in the forest. Gray and Juvia find themselves back to back, surrounded by a circle of random dark mages. "Ice make: Lance!" Gray fires off an abundance of ice lances towards his side of the mages, causing a good deal of them to go falling back unconscious and hurt.

"Water slicer!" With a violent wave of the hand, Juvia sends a powerful wave of water towards her side of the mages, having near the same effect as the ice lances. As the dark mages fire back, both Gray and Juvia jump away to avoid the attacks.

"Tch. There's so many."

"Juvia will defeat them with you!"

.

.

Gajeel and Lily begin running towards the fighting they heard in a full sprint. "I want some action too! I'm not waiting for it to come to me."

Before he could take another step, a funnel of shadows comes roaring right by his and Lily's face. "What in the!?"

"This can only mean one of two things." Takeru walks out of the shadows as he slowly walks towards the Iron Dragon Slayer and his exceed. "Either you're the other guild that was on this mission, or you're the dark guild that we're looking for."

"You idiot." Gajeel fully turned to Takeru. "You know Fairy Tail isn't a dark guild!"

"Oh do I?"

"Gihe. Maybe it's you Eclipse punks that are the dark guild."

Takeru stands with his body shifted to the right, ready to attack Gajeel again. Gajeel stands, crouched a bit with both fists clenched as he grins back at Takeru. Takeru digs his feet in the ground but before he takes off towards Gajeel, he notices the trees behind him. "Wait..behind you." Skeptical at first, Gajeel doesn't look, but Pantherlily does, and his gasps cause Gajeel to turn around. His eyes widen at what he saw. Takeru's roar that destroyed the trees in it's path, uncovered more of the blue crystal like substance that Lucy scratched off but didn't notice.

"L-lacrima." Lily looked on in astonishment. "Is this whole forest..."

"My my. You got us. Not that we tried to hide it that well." To the right of Gajeel, Hokori comes walking up with his hands in his pockets. Cigarette still lit.

Gajeel now turned to Hokori. "And who the hell are you?"

"It should be obvious.." Takeru sighed out. "He's from Silent Sanctum."

Hokori chuckled as a magic circle appears under his feet. "That's right. Hokori is the name. And I'll be the last person you see in this /forest/."

.

.

Just like Gray and Juvia, Reve and Taya were now back to back as random dark mages surrounded them. Except, Reve had a twisted grin on his face, while Taya stayed unphased either way. Reve's demeanor itself caused every mage to "freeze," waiting for the gunslinger and the dark vector user to move in the slightest. With two pistols already in his hands, and two large vectors already near the feet of Taya, at the same exact time, they attack. Reve takes aim so quick, that the mages didn't even react until shots were fired, about ten of them go down from taking magic bullets right into the chest. One of Taya's vectors wrap around a couple of the dark mages before they could attack. The other one goes slamming into an entire line of them, smashing them through trees, then sending them high into the air and back into the ground. Mistakingly, not that Taya was bothered by it, but the mage at the bottom of the pile that hit the ground dies instantly due to the impact of the ground, and the "dirt" begins to crack under his body. Pieces of it break, revealing the lacrima underneath it. They both notice but then continue fighting off the mages until the coast was clear.

.

.

.

"I think we're lost." Nami stops and looks around, causing to Selene to come to an abrupt halt as well. "Nami, we were lost the minute we left the group. Don't point out the obvious."

"Is it obvious that we're being watched?"

"Huh?"

Nami points to the mage standing on a branch with his arms crossed. He had brown hair and tannish skin. He carried a sheathed sword on his back. The man smirked as he looked down at the two. "You lost?"

"Nope!" Nami called out. She begins waving at the man. "We're looking for Silent Sanctum in this forest. Can you help us?"

Selene stares at the man who now stood up straight on the branch. "Nami I think..."

"I am from Silent Sanctum. And people outside our guild who utter our name end up dying. You're not an exception to this rule."

"We will be today!" Nami shouted. "Silent Sanctum Silent Sanctum Silent Sactum Silent Sanctum!"

Selen merely face palms as the man jumps down and now stands across from them. He reaches over his shoulder for his sword, causing Nami to ready herself and Selene to close her fists into two pointed diamond structures.

"My name is Byron, I would tell you to remember it. But I don't know if the dead have memories."

"Sidney has memories."

"...Sidney isn't dead Nami, he just looks like it; and /stops replying to everything."

"Just making conversation!"

"Wow...I would be stuck with them." Byron chuckles as a magic circle appears around the base of his sword and then goes through it, enlarging the sword. "Now, lets get this over with."

.

.

After what seemed like miles. Wendy crouches over from walking so long to catch herself and shake off her tired legs. "Sorry Erza.. I'll keep up I promise."

Erza looks back and merely smiles and nods. "Don't apologize anymore Wendy. You're not holding anyone back. You're doing great. It's actually better than babysitting Natsu and Gray for a change."

"H-hai! Just give me a second."

"Take all the time you-"

Before Erza could finish her sentence, a stream of golden light catches her eye. She knew that stream of light all too well. "Heavenly Body magic?!" She catches it again in the corner of her eye. After a few seconds of shock, she gives a smile. "I should of known he'd be here. That means Meredy is somewhere around too. Taking down dark guilds is what they do. You don't have to hide from us anymore, we're passed that remember."

"Erza, who are you talking to?" Wendy looks up as the golden stream of light passes once again. Wendy's eyes widen as she smiles. "Jellal!"

The golden light finally comes to a stop as he lands a little out of distance. Erza and Wendy give chase until they see him and come to a stop.

"Je...you're not Jellal."

As he came into view, Aloy began laughing quietly to himself. "Jellal? Jellal is a failure to dark guilds and Zeref followers everywhere. I'm Aloysis. The real heavenly body, and so much more." He gives such a calm smirk, until he flashes a sadistic grin at Wendy and Erza. "And this is where your journey ends by the way."

"You're part of Silent Sanctum aren't you!?" Erza draws a sword and points it towards Aloy.

"This isn't good." Charla begins backing away from the potential fight scene so she wouldn't be caught in it.

"Part of?" Aloy chuckles again. "I might as well /be/ Silent Sanctum. Besides the master here, there's no one stronger than the man you're sitting in front of. I don't appreciate you pointing that sword at me either." Aloysis raises his hand towards Erza as Erza's sword begins turns pitch black. He then pushes his palm out and the sword shatters, causing Erza to yelp out as she stumbles backwards, holding her wrist.

"Erza! What...what is he?" Wendy kept his eyes on Aloy as he stood there with his palm still out.

"Second Rapture." A magic circle appears under Wendy, and Erza as a pitch black glow comes from under them, seemingly engulfing the two mages as they both let out screams of pain.

Aloy keeps laughing as the pitch blackness came shooting out the ground, consuming nearly a fourth of the forest.

"Welcome." He leans forward a bit as he gives a full, sadistic smile. "TO SILENT SANCTUM!"


	14. Chapter 14

White Eclipse

Chapter 14

"Fire Dragon Wing Slash!" Natsu leaps in the air, and then with his arms spread he charges at Myou, but she simply slams a palm against Natsu's forehead. The momentum of Natsu's attack drives her back, but with an emotionless stare, Myou simply drives her feet into the ground, bringing the floor up until she comes to a stop, unharmed. As Natsu was forced to a halt, he grabs Myou's wrist that was placed on his head and then aims a punch to her jaw with his free hand. Myou simply sways her head out the way to dodge. He follows with a leg sweep that Myou jumps over, and a fiery uppercut that Myou simply leans back from.

Natsu growls. "Stand still!"

"Don't tell me what to do." Myou fires a knee to Natsu's stomach, causing him to hang in midair from the blow. She then fires a quick spinning kick to his sternum. Natsu goes tumbling back through the ground back near the hallway entrance.

"Nows our chance." Luke Whispered.

"Change of plans." Heather replied.

"You free your girlfriend, I'm going to help Natsu, but you have to free her first. She's in the way."

"Will you stop calling her that?"

"Just go!"

Natsu stands up after the kick to the chest, wincing. He stares at Myou but his eyes widen for a quick second for what he saw behind her. Luke and Heather freeing the unconscious Lucy. They quickly undo the chains before they make too much noise. By the time Myou turns around, Luke was making his way out the back with Lucy on his back.

"Hey! That's my victim!"

"Iron fist of the Fire-!"

Before he could throw his punch, the angered Myou rushes him in an instant, and grabs his hair. She pushes his head down and raises a knee at the same time, slamming it into his forehead. She then throws him over towards Heather.

"Get up Salamander." Heather readied herself as Myou walked towards them.

"S-shut up. Who are you anyways?"

"Heather, White Eclipse. Yeah yeah you hate me, we'll save that for later. Lets take this dark mage out first."

"My my." Myou looks on at Heather, no longer focusing on Natsu for the moment. "Aren't you pretty? It's too bad for you, torment knows no beauty but itself."

"Enough. Roar.."

Natsu's eyes widened as he looked over at Heather. "What!?"

"She's a dragon slayer!" Happy shouted, still floating at the entrance."

"..of the Poison Dragon!" Heather cups a fist around her mouth as she fires at Myou so that the poison won't go everywhere and affect Natsu. Myou just stands there again with her palm out and the roar slams into it, pushing her back until she swats the roar away.

"Cute." Myou takes a step forward, but the second she does she feels sharp pains around her body. "Gah..! Am I actually poisoned from that?"

Heather stays in a fighting stance. "Looks like your time is almost up."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Myou opens her palms, a magic circle appearing in both as black smoke quickly covers the room.

"W-what?! I...I can't move!" Natsu goes to his hands and knees as he loses control of his body. Heather doesn't move either as Myou walks towards them both.

"Paralyzed yet still awake. This..this is how I like to perform torture."

.

.

.

They cleared the entire lot of them. Reve's guns vanish as he and Taya walk over to the cracked ground. Taya pushes the dead body out the way with her foot and they both bend down to examine the ground. Reve digs a finger into the dirt, and ends up lifting a piece of Lacrima.

"..Well this explains the forest." Reve continued looking at the lacrima as Taya dug out a piece also.

"Yeah but, in order for lacrima to be stored it needs a source right? Our new question is, who or where did the source start from?"

Before Reve could say another word, they both here an explosion of magic not too far off.

"Hm!? Lets go see."

They both take off towards the explosion of magic.

.

Erza was down on one knee. Wendy was face planted in the now exposed lacrima, until she started making her way to her feet along with Erza.

"I see rapture magic is way too much for you weaklings. I won't you to last a little while, so lets make this fun yeah?" Aloy begins to glow the same golden light as before and begins hovering mid air.

"K-Kanso!" Erza's body glows as well, turning into her flight armor. She immediately takes off towards Aloy, who is backing up at the same speed with a smirk. He allows Erza close enough to where she begins to slash at Aloy with her sword. After dodging them all, Aloy ducks the last one and charges right by Erza and heads for Wendy. "Wendy!" Erza hits the breaks, and begins running after Aloy. "Wendy! Look out!"

"Huh?" Wendy kept her eyes peeled to the path Erza and Aloy took.

"Boo." Aloy appeared to the right of Wendy with his palm out firing off multiple curving beams of dark magic towards her. Wendy, with no where to go, covers up, but the beams of magic ram into her, causing her to fall back and go tumbling into the ground.

"Wendy!" Charla screamed out as she watched the sky dragon hit the ground. Her scream caused Aloy to turn to the exceed's direction. She begins backing up as Aloy stalks her. "Here kitty kitty." He was about to strike her, but Erza makes it back in time, swinging a vertical strike aimed at he back of Aloy's head. Aloy moves to the right causing her to miss, and then swings an uppercut to Erza's chin. Before she was sent flying up, Aloy grabs her foot and slams her back into the ground. He then stomps on her abdomen twice, holding it there the second time.

"H-how is he...this strong?" Erza began coughing in pain. Aloy pushes down with his foot causing Erza to groan in pain. She bared her teeth shut to not scream out. "Oh? You have so much pride that you won't scream for me? How cute of you." He leans closer to Erza, near face to face. He licks his lips as he stares at her. "You know, you're not that bad looking. It's too bad I have to kill you." Erza merely snarls as Aloy straightens up now, conjuring a magic circle under him and Erza. "First rapture-"

Before he could deliver the final blow, a small but powerful beam of magic comes roaring in. Aloy here's it from a good distance away and turns on his Heavenly body to escape, but the bullet was so fast it still slams into him and sends him hurling into a pile of broken trees. Then, it starts raining dark vectors into the pile of trees for a good minute until it finally stops.

"Titania? On the ground? Nothing new here." Reve and Taya walk into view. Erza didn't know what was worse at the moment. Her injuries, or being seen in this condition from the man who shot her.

"N-not now."

"Yeah it's never a good time when you're hurt." He smirks as he holds a hand out to Erza. The look on her face said that she didnt want to but Erza reaches out to grab Reve's hand...until he pulled it back. "Wendy!" Reve moved away from Erza and walked to Wendy. Everyone knew he did it on purpose as Erza fell back again. Taya then grabs Erza by the hand and pulls her up.

"Wendy, what are you doing out here?"

Wendy coughs as she makes her way back up. "I-I didn't know you cared?"

"Heh. I don't." He gives an innocent smile. "Just messing with your S class heroine over there.

"Anyways." Taya interjected. "I'm almost positive you're the other guild on this mission, which makes sense why we weren't told who we were working with. But we made a discovery, that you can now see actually. This entire forest, is made of lacrima. What they plan to do with it..I don't know."

"...the Tower Of Heaven..!" Erza shook from her own memory.

"Tower of heaven? You lunatics destroyed that." Reve scratches his head with his sniper rifle.

"I call it. The Forest of Rapture." Aloy was seen throwing broken trees off of him. He dusts himself off as he begins walking over to the group. "The master let me name it. Heh. And yes, it has the exact same properties of the Tower of Heaven. But. We plan on using it for a different purpose. Since Zeref is alive! We plan on wiping out non mages with it!"

Erza bares her teeth at Aloy in anger as she requips into her purgatory armor. "We were sent here to shut this operation down. And that's what we plan to do. Now if I remember correctly, you need a sacrifice in order for this to work. If you think you can take any of us-"

"You guys? A sacrifice!?" Aloy begins laughing aloud. "Oh no, we already have our sacrifice hidden somewhere in this forest. And this kid, is all we need. Now, are you four gonna stand there, or do I have to destroy all of you without having fun?"

"As much as I hate you guys." Reve requips his gun into two pistols. "We're gonna have to work together obviously. He can't take all of us."

"Agreed." Erza nodded, still in her Purgatory armor. The four surround Aloy as the prepare to attack.

.

.

Byron swings his now heavy sword in between Selene and Nami, separating them as they both jump away from the strike. Nami goes sliding on her feet as she faced Byron and cupped her hands together, then thrusts them forward, firing a beam of light towards Byron. He pulls out a shield, and on impact, it reflects the light back to Nami. She sways out the way, and watches the light cause a small explosion over in the distance. Selene quickly takes aim at Byron when he has his back turned and fires off pointed diamonds at a fast paced. Byron smirks and then side flips out the way, causing the diamond structures to slam into Nami, pinning her against a tree until for a quick second until Selene stops.

"Nami!" Byron appears beside the distracted "Kanso.." He speaks in a low tone as a well sized hammer appeared in his hands. He swings it at Selene but she caught glimpse and ducked at the last second and scrambles out the way; but the swing from the hammer, causes a gravity shift. The shift starts to pull Selene back to Byron due to the horizontal swing. Selene tries to fight it but to no avail as Byron twirls the hammer in his hand and then swings it like a golf club up to Selene's chin. She happened to cover her face with her diamond plates, but the damage was still done as Selene went flying towards the air. Nami shakes off the diamonds that slammed into her and charges Byron with orbs of light around her fists. She swings then at Byron with grace and precision, but he continuously dodges the attacks and swings his hammer down. Nami rolls out the way as the hammer hits the ground, creating a trail of concentrated gravity that just missed Nami. She pants from exhaustion.

"This guy..he's strong.." She smirks. "I like that."

Byron held the hammer under his left arm while signaling Nami to bring it wait his right hand.

"Alright..."

.

.

Natsu continued choking on the smoke as he couldn't move. Myou moves toward the Salamander first, and grabs him by the throat.

"Finally, you'll be able to see what my magic can really do." She was so fixated on Natsu with her sadistic grin that she almost forgot about Heather. Heather reminded her, as a sucking sound was heard throughout the room. The black smoke was being consumed by Heather. "What!? What are you doing!?" Myou turned to her, dropping Natsu. By this time, the smoke was completely clear. Heather wipes her mouth. "Eh, it wasn't great, but now that I've eaten I'm all revved up yeah?"

Natsu weakly raises a finger "T-that's m-my line.."

Myou growls in anger. "You'll die for ruining my fun."

"A magic circle appears under Heather as the entire room starts shaking. She looks over to Happy." Hey, Exceed, get the Salamander out."

"...Aye." Happy flies over and grabs and then carries Natsu out of the room.

"No matter. I'll get them later."

Heather's hair starts to levitate as she grins, for the first time, at Myou.

She then clenches both her fists and punches them together.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art..."


	15. Chapter 15

White Eclipse

Chapter 15

"Surround him!"

"Shut up fairy!"

Gajeel and Takeru go sliding in opposite directions as the surround Hokori. Hokori takes a long drag of his cigarette before flicking it away.

"Two dragon slayers, and one warrior take over."

"Warrior take over?" Gajeel cocked a brow in confusion.

"Oh? This your first time, junkyard? Well let me show you both."

A red magic circle appears under Hokori's feet and elevates through him. In a flash, he becomes smaller. His face now covered by a black mask showing only his eyes. He was now also in an all black suit.

"Well this isn't good. It's already dark." Takeru holds his stance as he waits for Hokori to move.

Gajeel laughs. "Gihehe. This is it? This is a warrior take over?" He then gives Hokori the bring it sign with his left hand. "This will be easy."

As soon as Gajeel finishes speaking, he finds Hokori right under him.

"Gajeel!" Lily calls out. Gajeel sees him and swings down a fist, but hits nothing but the ground, breaking a little of it apart. Hokori had spun around and now slams a kick to Gajeel's spine causing him to stumble forward. Takeru uses Gajeel's momentum and jumps over him and onto his back, and then pushes off Gajeel to go lunging forward towards Hokori. He swings a shadow infused right fist, but Hokori disappears in a cloud of smoke again, only to reappear above Tak as he hovered there in mid air. Everything slows down as Hokori's body glows and expands. He slams a massive foot down on top of Takeru's back, crushing him into the ground as the Shadow dragon let out a muffling sound of pain. Hokori now appeared as about nine feet tall, bulky and heavy. He carried a giant iron spiked mace and an iron helmet just over his eyes. With the same foot he scoops Takeru up and kicks him towards Gajeel. Takeru goes flipping towards the iron dragon slayer. Gajeel sees Takeru come flipping towards him and slams a fist to the back of his head, causing Takeru to face plant into the ground. He immediately pops back up holding the back of his head. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

"Don't use me as a damn spring board kid!" Gajeel growls at Takeru from his recent action. Takeru butts heads with Gajeel as they begin baring their teeth and growling at each other. Hokori sweat drops "such idiots.."

"I'll kill you!" Takeru screams out.

"I'll beat you to it!"

"Oh yeah!? ROAR.." Takeru takes Gajeel by surprise and grabs him by the shirt, throwing him towards Hokori. "What the!?"

"OF THE SHADOW DRAGON!" Takeru sends a funnel of shadows hurling towards both Hokori and Gajeel. The funnel wraps around Gajeel and heads towards Hokori at a fast pace. "T-they tricked me!"

Gajeel smiles as iron scales cover his body. He ducks his head forward as it slams into Hokori's body, full speed. Gajeel comes to a long sliding stop as Hokori, with pure white, KO'ed eyes, goes slamming into tree after tree until finally hitting the ground hard; tumbling for a bit until on his back knocked out.

Takeru stands up straight after his delightful view. "And that's how you take out a threat."

Gajeel appears right back in Takeru'a face, this time Takeru not angered, so he merely leans away as Gajeel spouts in anger. "What's the big idea!?"

"Hey hey...he's defeated isn't he? We should go find the others. I'm sure we aren't the only ones thats ran into Silent Sanctum."

Gajeel folds his arms as he walks along side PantherLily and Takeru.

"Don't act poised now. When this is over, I'll pay you back."

.

.

"Natsu! Natsu wake up!" Happy was carrying Natsu through the hallways of Silent Sanctum.

"I'm..not sleeping, Happy. Just give me a minute.." Natsu's body slowly starts to move as they continued to float down a long hallway. "Where are we headed?"

"I don't know! You ran in here so quickly looking for Lucy, that I couldn't remember the route!"

"What!? Happy!"

"Sorry!"

Happy and Natsu make their way down a room full of prison cells. Each cell was empty. They begin jogging/flying now since Natsu can move again. "This place is Creepy Natsu."

"I know, but lets keep moving." Just then the entire area starts to shake.

"What the!?"

"Natsu! Lets hurry and leave!"

.

Back on the other side of Silent Sanctum, Heather was the cause of the entire guild shaking. Her magic circle has covered the entire room. "Secret Dragon Slayer art."

Myou backs up in confusion and even a bit of worry and fear.

"W-what are you doing?! Stop or you'll wake-"

"Poison Dragon's stampede!"

From the center of the magic circle out, purple spikes come shooting out from the ground, emitting poison. With no where to go, Two of the spikes go through both shoulders if Myou as she screams out in pain and passes out as she hits the ground after the spikes retract.

"Whew.." Heather takes a sigh of relief as she lowers her guard. "That's one down. White Eclipse style."

"Did you say...White Eclipse?"

Heather quickly turns her attention back to the doorway behind Myou. A little boy, was leaned up against the wall with a small clock connected to a chain, dangling from his hand, eerily swinging perfectly as each second passed. Heather raised a brow as she looked at the kid, not finding him any bit threatening.

"Yes, I did."

"Calium.." The kid spoke the name of the guild's master. "How is the old man?"

Heather was caught off guard from this. "How do you know my Master's name?"

"Oh sorry.." The kid starts climbing around the spikes, which put Heather in shock as he was unaffected by the poison. The kids expression darkens.

"I'm Jikan Calium. That old mans Grandson; and guild master to White Eclipse."

.

.

.

Nami charges Byron again, full speed. Byron swings the hammer at her horizontally. Instead of dodging this time, Nami meets the hammer halfway with both hands infused with her light magic. Since he couldn't swing fully, no gravity was created. Byron bares his teeth as he pushes back but Nami's surprising strength keeps him from doing so. At a stalemate Byron grins again. "Kanso." Byron's hammer glows, and then turns into a bloody sword. The head of the hammer Nami was pushing on, was not a blade and it slowly cuts Nami's hand until she quickly removes them from the sword and lets out a yell. "More blood for my collection." Byron examines his sword with a grin as Selene appears back in the picture. "Roar, of the Diamond Dragon!" She fires a funnel of diamond shards towards Byron but he merely leaps up out the way, giving a cocky grin.

"Ice make: Lance!"

"Water Slicer!"

The two attacks slam into Byron from the right, slamming him into a tree nearby.

"Huh!?" Selene looks around finally spotting Gray and Juvia.

"Gray!" Nami shouts and waves

Juvia tilts her head in a demonic fashion. "Love rival.."

"...this is my first time saying hey to Gray ever." Nami shudders in fear.

"Quick! Finish it!" Gray calls out to Selene and Nami and the both both in unison.

Byron slowly stands, but he isn't fast enough to recover. Selene appears right below him with a raging uppercut; her entire fist covered in diamonds. "Nami! All yours."

Nami, in two jumps, from tree to above Byron, waves both of her arms in a circle, creating a circle of light and pushes forward, causing both beams of light to slam into Byron. He goes crashing to the hard ground, unconscious. Nami lands back down next to Selene and across from Gray and Juvia.

"Thanks for the distraction Gray and Juvia."

"Distraction? No matter how nice, they're still full of themselves." Gray mumbled.

"Why did she say Gray-Sama's name first?" Juvia mumbled in a death threatening tone.

"...Lets find the others quickly." Selene suggested. They may be in trouble.

.

.

.

Aloy continues flying around in his Meteor as Reve takes aim with his assault rifles. "Hold still!" Taya's vectors give chase but can't keep up. In blinding speed Aloy slams a devastating punch to Reve's gut and then a kick to the side of Taya's face. It sends them to their knees as Erza charges again, now in her lightning empress armor. She fires a charges shot but Aloy sways away from it. Wendy comes from behind. "Roar of the sky Dragon!" Nothing..Aloy flies above the roar as well and grabs Wendy from behind and throws her. Taya catches her with one of her dark vectors before any real damage was delt.

Aloy descends in the middle of the four mages. "This is the best you all have to offer? Pathetic. The council should take us more serious than this.

"Erza! Wendy!" Juvia and Gray come running up behind them.

"Taya! Reve!" Nami and Selene run over to their respective guild mates as well, Aloy allowing them too.

Taya hugs Nami. "You're okay."

"Taya stop.."

"Oi!" Gajeel and Takeru come sliding in. "We just took out one of your fellow mages." Gajeel boasted. "You should surrender now."

"Surrender?" Aloy laughs. "Surrender for what? We're just getting started."

Aloy summons a magic circle.

"That's enough Aloysis."

His eyes widen from the childish voice.

"The fact that I had to get my hands dirty does not sit well with me. You said you had this under control before I took my nap."

"Master Jikan!" Aloy bows as he comes into view. Jikan was seen dragging a body with him. It was Heather.

"Heather!" Nami shouted as she then covered her mouth at the view of her. Badly beaten and unconscious.

"Shit." Reve growled as the ten year old kid came next to Aloy.

"One of your mages got beat by a kid.?" Gajeel questioned.

"Funny." He eyes the iron dragon slayer. "Heather here made my appearance seem like a joke as well. But now that we have our sacrifice."

"Sacrifice!?" Both guilds say in unison. Heather groans as Jikan drops her. The light brown haired kid then backs away as Heather tries to stand. He pulls out the clock from his green jacket. And begins swinging it, causing the trees and dirt to disappear. All that was shown now was Lacrima. The second he finished, the lacrima turns into a puddle around Heather, slowly pulling her in. "Huh!? Guys! Help!" Heather cried out as the lacrima was already dragging her down past her knees.

"Aloy, the others have failed. Their lives are useless to me now. We're leaving." Aloy bows as Jikan waves a hand with his watch. Everything, even the mages stop. When time moves again, Jikan and Aloy are gone.

Gajeel looks around. "Where did they go!?"

"Never mind that!" Takeru runs to Heather who was steadily sinking. "Grab my hand Heather!"

.

.

.

"Well look who's up." Lucy stirs awake, still being carried by Luke as they walk through the forest.

"Huh? Luke? What happened?"

"I'm guessing you passed out, was captured, Natsu was fighting to save you but losing. My guildmate helped him, I'm sure they're fine now. And I unchained you and now I'm carrying you. How's that ankle? I saw it was badly bruised when I unchained you."

"Natsu... We have to go back!"

Luke scoffs at the fact all she heard was Natsu.

"We can't. Natsu and Heather told me to carry you away. Don't want to let them down you know?"

"Oh..thanks..Luke."

"Saving you is becoming a habit."

Lucy sweat drops. "Not a very good one for me."

As they walk on, they realize the trees and ground disappearing.

"What?! The ground. It's gone! The trees too!" Lucy screamed out.

"Lacrima. We need to get out of the forest now!"


	16. Chapter 16

White Eclipse  
Chapter 16

Heather was now waist deep in the Lacrima, Takeru was pulling Heather, trying to pull her out. Everyone else was pulling Takeru trying to help. Everyone but Gajeel.  
"Oi...you're wasting your time." The Black Steel protested while crossing his arms.  
"Shut up!" Takeru yelled back at Gajeel as he continued pulling.  
Heather winced as Takeru pulled. "Takeru, you're gonna pull my arm out!"  
"Would you rather have a dislocated arm or be dead!?"  
"There has to be a better way. Everyone just think for a second."  
Everyone but Takeru at this point stops pulling.  
"I'll just break it apart then." Takeru starts punching down on the lacrima ground. It started cracking, but there was no way he was going to make it in time.  
"This kid is so annoying." Gajeel thought. "He doesn't know when to actually quit. Just like..." Gajeel sighed as an idea came to his head at the same time. "Alright, move out the way." Gajeel's arm turns into his patented sword. Then the blades on the edge of the sword start moving like a working chainsaw. "I'm going to cut her out!"  
Everyone, even Takeru after hesitating, moves out the way. Gajeel stabs his sword arm into the ground and begins pulling it through as he walks a circle around Heather. By the time he was halfway around, Heather was neck deep in Lacrima.  
Takeru looks on. "He's not gonna make it..."  
"Kanso!" Erza's body glows a bright light and then disperses as she appeared back into her purgatory armor. She slams her mace in the crack where Gajeel started, and starts pulling the other way.  
"It's gonna be close!" Nami and the others watch in anticipation. "Keep you arms up Heather!" Heather could no longer hear as her face was submerged in the lacrima. Just her right hand was left by the time Erza and Gajeel met back around. They use the leverage of their mace and sword and pull out the circle of lacrima that Heather was stuck inside. The chunk of lacrima lands behind The group and breaks apart, leaving a now unconscious Heather laying on the ground. "Heather!" Nami runs over to check on her. "...She's okay. Just knocked out."  
"Whew!" Selene falls to her seat as she sighs in relief. "I'm just glad this is over. Those two got away, but we stopped their operation."  
"For now." Reve chimed in. "But this was hectic. Maybe taking all those jobs to get recognized wasn't a good idea huh Taya?"  
White Eclipse found that statement funny, knowing that Reve was kidding. All of Fairy Tail on the other hand.  
"That was you?" Gray asked, slightly annoyed. "You're the guild that's been taking /all/ the jobs?!"  
Reve cocks a brow at the Ice Make Mage. "Is there a problem? There's no rule against it."  
"I think they're more pissed that they've been out of work." Taya added.  
"You damn right we are!" Gajeel balled a fist up at her comment. "There's no rule against it, but you really have to go out your way to do that!  
"And out the way we went. Man it's been a busy month, and here we are now, taking out dark guilds. White Eclipse or second place ya know?" Reve starts laughing as all of White Eclipse stand beside him. Just then, Hokori, in his Giant warrior take over form that Takeru and Gajeel took out, towers over them with his fist reared back.  
"Hey!" Erza calls out. But Reve and the others were to busy enjoying themselves.  
"Fire Dragon's Sword horn!" Out of completely no where, Natsu slams into the ribs of Hokori, instantly KO'ing him due to the element of surprise. The blow sends him flying until he goes tumbling into the ground. Everyone turns to see what happened, only to see the KO'ed Hokori, and Natsu standing there with a childish smile on his face. "I got one!"  
"Everyone's here right?" Takeru asked, unamused at Natsu's antics against his and Gajeel's left overs  
"No, we're missing Luke and that blonde chick." Taya replied.  
"Ooooo." Nami instigated. She leaned back with an innocent smile as Natsu screamed "STOP THAT!" towards here.  
"But I know they're okay." Natsu crosses his arms. "They escaped when I was fighting one of the mages."  
Erza nods as she gives a small smile. She then turns back to everyone else. "Our job is done. We should make our way out the forest."  
"Yeah no shit." Reve stretched his arms out, as if his comment was acceptable.  
"...You seem to have a real problem with me Reve."  
"You have no idea."  
"Okay." Taya interrupted. "I've contacted Lahar, and he and Doranbolt are on the way, so lets meet them outside the forest."

.  
Luke finally puts Lucy down as the had make their way out the forest. She gently grabs it, caressing it as she looks at the swollen ankle.  
"Sorry I don't have any medical supplies." Luke says with a guilty feeling.  
"It's fine. It's not your fault for my ankle." Lucy nodded.  
"And just like I said, they're right here." Reve speaks as the entire White Eclipse and Fairy Tail group walk out the forest and next to them, carrying an unconscious and tied up Hokori. "Where were you two during all of this eh? You just met recently you know."  
Luke and Lucy's face immediately goes red from Reve's implications. "Reve! Shut up!" Luke averts his eyes to see Lahar and Doranbolt appear to his right along with the council guards. "Oh..the council guards are here."  
Lahar bows. "On behalf of the council, we want to thank both of your guilds for taking on such a heavy task."  
"Wasn't a problem!" Nami exclaimed.  
Lahar then spoke again as Doranbolt escorted Hokori to the miniature cell block that was brought along. "Your money is being transferred to your guilds as we speak. Sorry to cut out meeting short, but we have other matters to attend to. Once again, we thank you.  
As Lahar and Doranbolt take their leave with the only mage in Silent Sanctum captured, the others stand around in their victory.  
"White Eclipse?" Luke said to Selene with a grin, holding his fist out.  
"Or second place." Selene pounds his fist and returns the grin.  
"/Or/ second place?" Gajeel interrupted. "So what..are you all third?"  
"I got all the energy in the world loud mouth, you wanna go?" Takeru steps to Gajeel, only to be held back by Luke.  
"Gihe! Your guild mates hold you back because they don't want you hurt kid. You're out of your league when I'm serious."  
"So I guess you were playing around when Selene and I were kicking yours and Salamander's asses!"  
"What!?" Natsu interjected. "That didn't happen!"  
"All of you just shut up and seperate!"  
"I agree with Titania on this one." Reve steps in the middle of the mayhem as he speaks.  
"Thank you Reve."  
"I mean, there's no need to fight. We already know that we're better,  
So why don't we call it a truce and be done with it; with White Eclipse on top."  
Erza is beyond annoyed at this point, so she steps up to Reve who merely smirks.  
"If you want Fairy Tail so bad-"  
"Watch your tone Titana." Reve was now also serious, due to the fact that he was face to face with the one person he wanted to beat so badly.  
"The only thing we /want/ is to be the best guild. And we've become that."  
"Under what grounds!?"  
The entire group watched the two go back and fort, wondering what was going to happen.  
"Under the ground that we're the reason you don't have jobs and missions. And if I remember, someone here was out cold back in the mountains."  
Erza, can only stand as she glares at the cocky gunslinger. Until she finally stoops to his level. "If you didn't place in the top eight in the games, then you have no room to speak of Fairy Tail."  
Her comment struck a nerve in not only Reve, but White Eclipse entirely. Reve balls a fist up but then relaxes as he laughs at the statement. "You know what Titania? You're right, and from now on...we won't." Erza cocks a brow as he continues. "Let's call a /truce/ right here, a treaty if you will. The Grand Magic Games are a year away. Until then, we won't fight, nor talk trash about you, intentionally. I can't speak for run-ins and mishaps though, but besides that, we part ways here." Reve extends a hand to confirm the treaty.  
Erza looks at Reve, then back at her guild mates who wait for her decision. "So you're saying, no picking fights, no down talking the other guild, all until the grand magic games?"  
"That's exactly what I just said ten seconds ago."  
Erza's eyebrow flickers in annoyance from Reve's comment, but she then smirks. "Fine, since you White Eclipse members can't handle it. We'll spare you until the games." She quickly grabs Reve's hand before he could say anything back and grips it firmly. Anything Reve was about to say was now gone, as he was now matching strength and insincere smile with Erza on the handshake.  
Lucy sighs. "Well atleast we can live along peacefully for a year."  
"That's true." Luke agreed.  
"White Eclipse, we out." Reve and the others begin walking towards the north, while Fairy Tail begins their trek to the south. Reve turns back around, catching Erza's eye as they both smirked at each other. Reve gives her one last hand gun gesture. Erza merely holds her right hand up, her index finger up and her thumb out. The entire guild joins her without turning around.

Inside the mini cell, on the way back to the Council Headquarters, Hokori sat in the corner with magic sealing cuffs. He stared at the ground, feeling like the weak link for being the only one captured.  
"Well well." Outside the cell, holding on to the bars to the only window of the cell, was Daityas, except he now had black hair.  
"D-Daityas!?"  
"Move over ya wanker, I want to pick at the poor pup as well." A girl's face appears. She has white hair that's shoulder length and red/orange eyes.  
"Maggie too!? For what do I owe the honor?"  
"What you think? We have to break your ass out because you were beaten by some two bit mages." Daityas glared at Hokori. "Wasting my time with this. Sora, do your thing.  
On top of the cell, a little girl with pink hair giggles. She had blue eyes, and she wore a big hat that covered most of her head. It would even occasionally fall over her eyes. "Lets play a game." A magic circle appears under Sora, causing shadows to seep out and around the cell and the vehicle carrying it. Daityas smiles at Hokori. "Hang on." Dait and Maggie both hop off, and in that instant, Sora giggling was the last thing heard before the cell was viciously ripped apart and the vehicle Doranbolt and Lahar were in was violently flipped, causing them two, along with a few other guards, to go flying out until the hit the ground hard. The guards were out cold.  
"What in the!?" Lahar looks up, and sees Daityas, Maggie and Sora standing over him. Sora balancing back and forth on her toes and the heel of her feet. Lahar's eyes widen in fear as he shook. "Y...Y-you're."  
"Say it." Daityas grinned as his arms to the side. "Say it like you just pissed yourself!"  
"You're Tataros..." Doranbolt finishes the statement. Also in paralytic shock as well.  
"Oi...lets kill em' eh?"  
"We would Maggie...but our bossman is being an ass. I don't know why he wants these clowns alive. Buuuuutt..roughing em up won't /hurt/."  
"...don't ever do a play on words again." Maggie side eyed Daityas.  
Daityas drops his hands, as if losing his muse for the whole situation. "You just couldn't let me have it huh?"  
"I'm sorry, if your snappy phrases and comebacks weren't such a damn drip, maybe I would of let it go."  
"...I'll give you a drip."  
As Maggie and Daityas argue, Lahar and Doranbolt begin making their way to their feet. As they do so, theirs shadows begin to move freely. "Wanna play?" They both look at Sora, confused, until Lahar takes a clubbing blow to the back of his head by his own shadow, knocking him out. "Lahar!" Doranbolt quickly phases away from his shadow and grabs Sora, then phases away from Dait and Maggie again, holding Sora in a hold and out in the open.  
"Okay!" Doranbolt stares down the two mages. Sora's eyes begin to water as if she was about to start crying.  
"Now you are all under arrest for-" Befor Doranbolt could finish, a fist comes crashing into his jaw, KO'ing him instantly as he hits the ground. Another girl, with black hair and icy blue eyes, just knocked him out cold. "OHHHHHH!" Maggie starts jumping around with the black haired girl. They chest bump each other then stand over Doranbolt. "Damn! You ate that! Kiora knocked you out!" Maggie yells as she crouched over Doranbolt.  
"Yeahhh I did! Laid you out!"  
Daityas merely facepalms. "I hate when they're together."  
Kiora point Daityas to Doranbolt. "Tea bag him! You won't do it!"  
Daityas sighed. "I have somewhere to be tomorrow, soo.. You two done yet?"  
"Quite."  
Daityas turned back to Hokori, who was watching the entire thing. "Well then Hokori. You should go find the rest of the Silent Sanctum wimps and regroup. We, are leaving.  
Leaving Hokori stunned and speechless, the four mages walk over the horizon, Sora tugging on Kiora's shirt. "Brownies later?" The little girl asked.  
"Damn Sora eat something else sometime." Kiora replied, but turns to see her watering eyes. "...okay okay. I swear this kid..."


	17. Chapter 17

White Eclipse

Chapter 17

A day has passed since Fairy Tail's and White Eclipse's mission to thwart the plans of Silent Sanctum. Everyone at the Fairy Tail guild was recovering from their battles and strife.  
Natsu stretches his arms over his head to shake off the soreness he felt under his bandages.  
"Natsu!" Happy called out as he walked over to the Salamander. "Have you seen Lucy? I can't get into her apartment and I left fish there!"  
"Huh?" Natsu blinked as he looked around, noticing that Lucy wasn't in the guild. He scans the guild one more time before turning back to Levy. Levy notices Natsu turn to her and quickly buries her guilty face into a book she was reading. "Oi, Levy. Have you seen Lucy?"  
Levy quickly jumps from the sound of her name. She heard Natsu loud and clear, but still hesitated to answer. "Uh!" Levy begins waving her arms as she put her book down. "Sorry Natsu, I haven't seen her!" Cana snickers from Levy's horrible lie.  
"Hey, what's so funny Cana?" Natsu asked as he turned to her.  
"Oh nothing Natsu." Cana snickered again as she lifted a barrel of beer and began chugging before putting it down again. She wiped her mouth as she smirked at Natsu. "Nothing at all.~"  
The naïve Natsu merely shrugs and walks over to Mirajane and Lisanna. Lisanna was sitting at the bar a few seats away from Cana while Mirajane was behind the counter.  
"Lisanna, Mira! Have any of you seen Lucy?"  
Mirajane and Lisanna exchange looks, and then quickly ignore the question in a frantic manner.  
"Nii-Chan! Come help me um…" Lisanna doesn't even finish her sentence as she runs over to Elfman, who was talking to Max and Warren. Mirajane simply keeps her eyes on the bar as she wipes it down with a rag; away from Natsu.  
"What's with everyone today!?" Natsu asked as he scratches his head.  
"I just want my fish!" Happy begins wailing out as tears form in his eyes.  
Natsu continued to ask Wendy, Juvia, Erza, and even Laki as they all gave him the same response.  
"Fine! We'll just go break in like we always do Happy!"  
"Aye sir!"

.

"…Oh. He's pretty tall." Reve stated as he looked straight up at the six foot eight inch mage. He had short, frosted colored hair and eyes. His teeth had abnormally long fangs in them. He towered over Reve wearing a grey tank top that was outlined in black, and blue pants that loosely hung off him. "And your name is?  
"Adamantine." The mage continued looking down at Reve. "I'm a….an ice mage."  
Reve smirked, "As big as you are, I don't think your magic is really that important heh."  
Waiston was now standing in front of three girls who were sitting on a sofa in the main room. One of the girls had brown hair, a bit curly as it hung down to her ribs. Her eyes were a golden yellow. She had goggles on the top of her head and a black sleeveless vest over her torso. Her jeans covered over her black boots. The other girl had white hair with light purple tinged at the ends. She also had light purple eyes. The last female had purple hair and gold eyes.  
"What are you staring at?" The white haired mage asked.  
"Be nice Kairi!" The brown haired female responded. She then waved joyously as Waiston. "Hi! We're new members! I'm Skye! And this is Kairi and Kai! We all joined yesterday, but it was pretty empty when we got here."  
"I'm Waiston. It's great to meet you two. Sorry for staring, just not used to… our guild's expansion I guess."  
Reve crosses his arms, now standing next to Taya and Jaxon as he looks on at the full guild, only one mage missing. "We're getting bigger."  
"I'll say" Jaxon replies. "Not that It's a bad thing, the company here will be…interesting at least."  
"I hate it." Taya comments, looking at the two girls, and then Adamantine.  
"You hate everything." A brown haired mage hiccupped as he wraps his arms over the shoulders or Tayakata and Reve. He had black hair, but at the ends, they were colored differently between purple, dark red and yellow. His eyes had the same colors in layers from top to bottom. He wore two small belts around his neck, one black and one brown. He also wore a brownish hoodie with jeans. In his hand was a tall bottle of liquor, already half way done.  
Taya leans away as she grimaces at the mage. "Yes Jack, and that includes you. Please, you reek of alcohol."  
Jack shrugs. "Reve always did like em with attitude." He walks away as both Reve and Taya avert their eyes, pink tinges flushing across their face.  
Jaxon makes his way across the guild and looks around. "Hey…where's Luke and Kuro?"  
"Kuro is with his friend somewhere around here." Cygnus stated.  
"And Luke had a date!" Nami and Aira blurted out at the same time.  
"With Lucy!" Aira added.  
"What?" Reve stepped to the middle of the room. "Did we not just make a deal with the fairies that we wouldn't interact with them.  
"Relax Cowboy, this is completely different." Taya shrugs as a couple of people nod in agreement. "I doubt Luke of all people is going to start anything with that Lucy girl."  
Zain walks out of the infirmary with Zalen as the guild turns their attention to them. Takeru sits up from the couch he was lounging on with Selene. "How is she?"  
Zain gives a small smile. "Heather is fine. She just needs to sleep it off." The guild cheers at the news. Cygnus and Michio stand at the doorway as Arturus, and Sidney walk in.  
"That's him." Arc said, nodding his head to Adamantine. Sidney and Arc walk over to the giant mage, both stopping in front of him.  
Sidney stares for a bit before nodding once. "I know what you are, but as long as you don't cause any trouble, I have no reason to expose you." Before Adam could respond, Sidney was walking off with Arc, leaving Adam to just a smirk. "If he knows, I'm sure the master here does as well.."  
Before Arc could walk out of the guild, Kuro comes walking in with his friend from the opposite side. Arc had just reached Taya as Kuro begins to speak.  
"And this is the main room! Everyone, meet my new friend, Daityas! But I call him Dait!"  
Arcturus stops in his tracks. Taya's eyes widen in shock and disbelief. Arc too was in shock, something no one in the guild as ever seen. Reve and the others look on as things become quiet.  
"D-Daityas.." Taya stuttered out.  
"Arc begins growling like a wild animal. Before he could lunge towards him, Taya was holding the demon slayer down the best she could, dragging her feet into the floor boards."  
"What's wrong with Arc!?" Kuro asked as he looked at Daityas who was just standing there, unaffected at the situation.  
"Kuro!" Taya screamed out as she struggled with Arc. "You've let a member of Tartaros in the guild!"


	18. Chapter 18

White Eclipse  
Chapter 18

"Wild.." Bacchus was seen standing next to Lucy outside of a restaurant in the town of Magnolia. Beside Bacchus was another male, a bit shorter than the drunken mage. He wore a short sleeved white formal shirt with a loose black tie, and jeans.  
"What you think Blues?" Bacchus asked the mage as he held up the newest issue of Sorcière Weekly.  
Blues and Lucy continued to look into the "unofficial guild rankings" page of the magazine. Though known to be unofficial, a lot of the guilds, including the big ones, took it seriously.  
"This is wild.. From out of nowhere."  
"I think it's stupid! They are not as good as us!" Lucy balled her fist up as she continues to burn a hole in the magazine with her eyes.  
Bacchus couldn't help but laugh as he read the top of the page. "Tied for first in Fiore's top guilds, is none other than Grand Magic Games winner Fairy Tail; but the surprising White Eclipse, who didn't even get past that preliminaries, now share the spotlight with Fiore's finest. They really took you by surprise huh?"  
Lucy couldn't say anything, so she just sighed on the subject. "It doesn't help they I'm out with one right no either."  
"You're on a date with one!? What a twist! Now that's WILD!"  
"Four!" Blues screams out as they both begin laughing.  
"DONT CALL IT THAT!" Lucy glares at them both. "Blues, right? When did you join Quatro Puppy?" Lucy smirks deviously with her comment, knowing what was coming next.  
"IT'S CERBERUS! NOT PUPPY! CERBERUS!" Bacchus screamed out as he towered over Lucy in an animated fashion. She laughs and then turns back to Blues.  
"Because Quatro /Cerberus/ is  
A great guild. I watched the games and I loved the guild ever since." He clenches both his fists as he roars in the air. "Because they're wild!"  
"FOUR!" Bacchus joins in as they both laugh. As they laugh, Luke comes walking out of the restaurant and walks towards the group standing outside.  
"So this is the guy huh? Luke right? Oye...your guild has my soul quivering." Bacchus grins as he lifts the gourd from his hip and starts to drinking.  
"You know public drinking is against the law now Bacchus." Lucy stated, but he ignores the comment as he waits for Luke's response.  
"I appreciate the compliment on us, but we aren't trying to impress anyone. We just want to be the strongest in Fiore."  
"What's even more impressive is that you're out here with Salamander's girl on a date. That's wild."  
Lucy immediately goes red in the face as she begins screaming at Bacchus. "There's so much wrong with that statement!"  
Bacchus shrugs as he grins. "We'll leave you two alone now anyways, we gotta get back. Lets go Blues." They both begin walking off.  
"Wild...!"  
"Four!"  
"So that's Bacchus huh? Seems like a great guy."  
"He's alright. You ready to go?"

.

Nobody moves. The guild is completely frozen except for Arc who was still trying to get to Daityas. Kuro stands in the middle looking on in confusion.  
"Arc..." Kuro says softly, not understanding fully yet.  
"Kuro. Your friend has to go!" Taya continues to struggle with Arc, who for some reason wanted to get his hands on Daityas in the worst way. He reaches for the bandages over his eyes but Taya grabs his arm as well. "Don't you dare take those bandages off!"  
Daityas sighed as he started playing the victim card. "I see you two escaped from Tartaros as well.."  
"Excuse me?" Taya replied. Daityas turns to Kuro. "I used to be in Tartaros Kuro, the strongest dark guild, along with Tayakata and Arcturus. But they left, and since I let them go when I had the chance to stop them, I was lined up to take the ultimate price. But.."  
Daityas begins to take off his hoodie. Everyone except Kuro quickly went on guard, until he exposed his entire back and torso. Nothing was there except burn marks, as if lava ran over and dried up on his body. "Our /master,/ tried to kill me, but like Taya and Arc, I ran from that place. It's funny, you think you're evil, until someone comes a long and really tests your level of insanity and malice."  
"You see!" Kuro shouted. He's not evil! If he was he would of attacked me in the beginning. We wouldn't even be here!  
The guild mates look at one another, talking aloud at what to believe. Daityas looks over to the window and sees Sora, she was holding up a small sign that said "Can we play?" As Daityas reads the sign, Maggie and Kiora appear at the window, all trying to fit their face in it so Dait can see. They all three begin pointing to the sign in a humorous fashion. Daityas tried to discretely shake his head no. Tak was talking to Selene when this catches his head, he turns to Daityas but Daityas was now pushing his own hand against his head as if he was trying to loosen his neck. "..." He turns back in the couch as Reve walks to Daityas. Arc by this time has finally calmed down sense he didnt sense a guild mark. "Well, Daityas.. We can't fault you, because we have two members of our own from your old guild." These words slam into Taya. She felt as if she wasn't forgiven for being a Tartaros mage, and she also felt like she was being disregarded, like no one believed her when she said Daityas was dangerous. Nami just looks at her sister, feeling bad. She already knew what she was feeling, especially since Reve said it. "We aren't that rude. So until you give us a reason, Kuro's friend is our friend."  
"Heh. I doubt that. But I appreciate the... /acceptance at least. I can tell that even though we've settled this, that my presence is no longer welcome." Daityas turns to Kuro again and smirks. "Thanks Kuro Crane, I'll be around."  
"Bye Dait..."  
Daityas walks slowly to the door, right by Arc and Taya. Arc continues growling as Daityas stops for a second and then walks out.  
A little ways away from White Eclipse, as Daityas walks, the three girls appear from Daityas shadow, thanks to Sora. At this time, Daityas was pulling off the hardened lava from his body. Exposing his Tartaros guild mark.  
"Well looks like they aren't your biggest fan /Dait./" Kiora snickers.  
Sora nods frantically as she was stuffing her mouth with a brownie.  
"I'm not worried about any of that. But those two.."  
"Give it up right now. Those two wankers are goody goodies now. You can't save em'!"  
"Taya seems convinced that she's not about this life anymore." He then grins. "But Arc. Good old Arcturus. He just needs a push. And I know exactly where to start."

"Well now that that's over." Reve walks back over to Taya and places a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"  
Taya gives Reve the coldest stare, and then punches Reve right in the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards. He holds his jaw as he looks back at Taya in confusion. "What the?"  
"... I'm just like them huh? Is that how the rest of you see me too?" She raises her voice as she turns to the rest of the guild.  
"What, no! You're taking what I said out of context."  
"No, I took this guild out of context." Taya immediately turns and begins walking out of the guild. "Tayakata!" Nami runs after her, only to have a dark vector grab ahold of her as Taya walks out alone, slamming the door behind her.  
"The hell..?"  
Jack begins to laugh a bit. "Reve the ladies man. He can never see when he's in the wrong eh?"  
Jaxon, after watching Taya leave, merely sighs. "Well atleast no one was hurt."  
"I'm sorry.." Kuro lowers his head, feeling guilty for Taya and Arc, who was already making his way to the back of the guild. "I didn't know, but he's not a bad guy anymore.. He said so. He wouldn't lie.."

.

"This is pathetic. I want people to fear us." The female with black and white hair stated. The right side of her head had white hair, and her top and left side was black. She had two different colored eyes as well. Her right eye was red, and her left was blue. She had on a small black top hat that leaned off the left side of her head, yet somehow balanced. "Come on Mithril, one victim. Just one."  
"Calm down Ruika." Beside the female, the man that just spoke was standing beside her with reddish purple hair that started dark from the strands, but became lighter as you reached the scalp. His eyes were the same color. "We didn't come here for violence yet, so keep your keys out your hands. You know how you get. Anyways, we're just here to look around, and find a place to plant the lacrima, nothing else."  
Ruika rolls her eyes. "Yeah yeah, lets just make it quick."

"Natsu!" Happy yells out as he flies around the Salamander. "This fish will be amazing! I might not even finish it!"  
"You better finish it for making me walk here just to go get it." The Dragon Slayer and Exceed combo continue their trek down the Main Street of Magnolia. The streets were quite busy today, nearly no room to walk around anyone; and that's when it happened. Natsu stopped on a dime, his nose widening from a certain smell. Something inhuman just passed him. Not only was it inhuman, but Natsu knew the scent too well for he used to always be around one. "Dragon.." Happy stops when he realized Natsu had stopped a few paces back. "Natsu? What's wrong?"  
"Happy...there's a dragon here."  
"A dragon? Natsu we would notice a dragon her-"  
"I'm sure of it! It was right-" Natsu turned around, trying to spot anything unfamiliar, the only thing that catches his eye was two people turning the corner, Mithril and Ruika  
"Them! I know it!" Natsu runs after the two, turning the corner.  
"Natsu wait!" Happy quickly goes flying after him, only to run into him around the corner. Natsu looks around, losing track of the two he was following. "Oi...I guess... I must be losing it." He turns right back around with Happy and they continue walking.  
"Dragneel huh?" There on the roof they stood. They both look on at the Dragon Slayer until he's out of sight. Ruika gags. "We just evaded a fight. I'm dying inside."  
"I told you, impatient woman. Lets do our job first. Damn."  
"Yeah yeah calm down dragon."

.

Taya had made her way to an open, yet deserted plain way off to the left of the snowy mountains. Out of sight from White Eclipse, she stops her walking and looks up to the sky. "Idiots.. I know what I'm talking about. Daityas is lying and I know it."  
"Maybe."  
Taya's eyes widened before an explosion of dark red flames happens around her. Taya was able to avoid by jumping out of range. She then turns and looks for the culprit, already knowing who was behind the attack. From behind, a concentrated stream of lava comes firing down like a whip. Taya summons a dark vector to block it. She then surrounds herself in a dome as more and more Lava whips fire from no where.  
"I want to play too!" A small voice echoed from inside Taya's shadow dome. The darkness inside the dome starts to swirl around and then in the next second, the dome shatters, causing Taya to scream out in pain. From her right, a bunch of shadow lances slam into her side, causing Taya to go tumbling to the ground. Before Taya could get up, Daityas appears out of nowhere, grabbing Taya by the throat. Taya, who was already too hurt to fight back, starts coughing, gasping for air.  
Daityas leans close to her. "Once upon a time, there was this Dark Vector Mage who wandered into the plains. She thought it was a peaceful day, until a fire dragon attacked her. She was never the same since."  
Taya, still coughing, looks on in pain in confusion. "What..are you talking about?"  
Daityas chuckled as he tightened the grip on Taya.  
"You see Tayakata. Hidden under your guild, is now a magic circle. With the snap of my fingers, I could send the entire guild, and everyone in it in Hells flames. Now, for your disobedience to Tartaros, I'm going to burn you alive okay?"  
Taya's eyes widen and she immediately tries to pull away.  
"No no, shh~" Daityas holds on to the panicking mage who now whimpered as she tried to get out of his grip. "I know, I know you're scared. That's why you left us, because you were scared. But look at Sora." He turns Taya's head to the little girl that was smiling so innocently, standing next to Kiora and Maggie who also stood there with smug looks. "She misses you."  
"And Arcy!" Sora calls out.  
"Heh. And Arcy. But here's the thing, you ran from us. Don't forget, our door is always open. But until then.."  
Daityas' arm becomes encased in dark red flames, quickly traveling to Taya's body as she let out a loud scream.  
A scream that no one at the guild could here because of how far she was.

No one.

But Nami.


	19. Chapter 19

White Eclipse

Chapter 19

Opening the door to her apartment, Lucy steps inside. Luke walks in behind her as he looks around. "Wow, not bad. You afford this by yourself?"  
"Yeah, the rent is pretty decent, but I manage with all the jobs we go on. Well, used to go on. There hasn't been many recently, but you know that." Luke rubs the back of his head, feeling a bit guilty. "Ahe. Sorry about that. It was Reve's idea for us to get noticed, but I think we've slowed down on that anyways."  
"Mhm. Well, you can have a seat. I'll be right back." Luke sits down on a chair as Lucy makes her way upstairs. When she gets upstairs, she opens her door and nearly lets out a yell before covering her mouth. In her room, was Natsu and Happy were lounging around. Natsu was upside down on the bed while Happy was snoozing at the top of the bed, covered in left over fish. Natsu blinks a few times at Lucy's reaction. "Lucy, what's wrong with you?"  
"What are you two doing here!?" Lucy asked with a surprised yet quiet tone.  
"Happy left his fish here, and no one could tell me where you were, so we came and got it ourselves. Now he's sleeping."  
"Hmph. Natsu you really have to stop breaking in!" Natsu of course ignores the statement as Lucy makes her way to her bathroom, and then back out.  
"Anyways, let's go on a job!" Natsu yells out as holds up a job poster.  
"Shh! I can't right now."  
"Why not? And what do I have to be quiet?"  
Lucy sighs as she looks at the ground, afraid of the Salamander's response. "…I'm with company."  
"Company?" Natsu raised a brow. "Levy? Cana? They can come too, it's a big reward."  
"It's….Luke. I owed him for saving back at White Eclipse, so..we're on a..date kind of."  
Everything goes quiet for a second as Natsu stares at Lucy. Lucy couldn't dare look him in the eyes.  
"….That's it? Why is that a secret?"  
"What? You're not upset?" Lucy looked at Natsu, completely puzzled.  
"Am I supposed to be?"  
Lucy turns away for a second, then back towards Natsu. "I don't kno- Natsu?" Natsu had disappeared from the room.

"Oi! Luke!" Natsu leans over from the railing and begins waving towards the copy mage.  
"N-Natsu!?" The puzzled mage stands from his chair. "What are you doing here?"  
"Ahe, I basically live here!"  
"No you don't!" Lucy shouted out as she rushed down stairs, carrying Happy and pushing Natsu out as well. Happy stirs awake while this goes on. Natsu just continues to smile and waves at Luke while he's being pushed out.  
"You two play nice!" Natsu yelled out right before Lucy pushed him all the way out. "Actually, I should be headed out too." Luke walks over to Lucy and grabs her hand and smiles. "We should do this again sometime, Lucy." As Natsu was already standing outside, Luke slides past him. Natsu watches Luke walk down the street then turns back to Lucy who was in the midst of closing the door. "Lucy wait!"  
"What is it Natsu?" Lucy said, seemingly annoyed.  
"…Job?"  
Lucy stares at Natsu for a bit, as if he's lost his mind, and then shuts the door in his face. "Idiot…"  
Natsu and Happy just look at each other and shrug. "Guess it's just us."  
"Aye sir.."

.  
.

Walking down an abandoned street, Bacchus continued drinking from his gourd, as if it was never ending. Blues accompanied Bacchus as they used this abandoned street as a short cut back to Quatro Cerberus. "Oi.. the sensation of alcohol inside of you. Blues you don't know what you're missing." The Drunken Falcon wrapped his arm around Blues as he belched out an alcoholic's laugh.  
"I'll have to take your word for it Bacchus." Blues begin leaning away from Bacchus a bit, to avoid the reek of alcohol. "It amazes me how you're able to function when you're drunk. Whether it's your fighting style or not."  
"It's because I'm Wild!"  
Blues was about to scream out four, but Bacchus stops him as he gets a curious look in his face. "Yo! Blues, what are they doing? No one stands on this street anymore."  
Blues looks over as Bacchus points to Mithril and Ruika standing in the street, near an open manhole. They were talking amongst themselves as Bacchus and Blues stood a ways behind them watching.  
"You sure this is the spot?" Ruika asked.  
"This is the coordinates /he/ gave me." Mithril replied. "We'll plant it here, and step one will be complete."  
"How long does this take again?"  
"About a couple of years. But we've got nothing but time now that we know that Zeref is alive."  
Ruika scoffed at the time table Mithril gave her. "You all have too much patience." As she spoke she turned around, and Bacchus and Blues caught her eye. She immediately tapped Mithril on the shoulder. They both now faced the two Quatro members as Mithril began to speak.  
"What the hell do you want?"  
Bacchus' eyes narrow from the male's attitude. "A nicer greeting to one of top eight guilds in Fiore."  
"There's only like twelve good ones in all." Ruika said with a shrug. Quickly cut down, Bacchus and Blues stand there completely white.  
"Oh yeah!" Blues shouted. "I don't remember seeing you around when Quatro Cerebrus was competing in the games."  
"Screw your stupid games. We aren't allowed to do those anyways kid. We're in a dark guild."  
"Ruika what are you doing!?" Mithril turned to her, as she exposed the nature of their motives.  
Bacchus grins. "A dark guild eh? Those captures are worth a lot of money. Tell me, what's your guild name exactly?"  
Ruika reaches for a pouch, pulling out celestial keys as she smirked. "Tell ya what. If you beat us, I'll tell you anything you want to know."  
"Heh. Now that's WILD!" Bacchus lets out a laugh as Blues loosens his tie, readying himself for a fight. "Let me start us off!"  
And with that, Bacchus places a palm on his right knee and lifts his leg. He then slams his leg down into the ground, causing a massive quake and the uprooting of the ground under and around Mithril and Ruika. They scatter however, avoiding any damage from the attack. Blues charges Ruika as water starts to swirl around his fists. He aims a downward punch but he misses as Ruika easily slides out the way. He causes a small crater in the ground from the fist to floor collision. Ruika pulls out a key as she slides away from Blues. "Gate of the Twin Bears! I open thee. Ursa Major! Ursa Minor" As the gates open, a giant bear, and a much smaller bear appear. The giant bear, like Taurus, wielded a giant axe. The smaller bear held twin swords in its hands. They both charge at Blues, Ursa minor jumping off of Ursa major and into the air. Ursa major swings down his giant axe. Blues dodges by jumping high into the air, not noticing that Minor was already up there as the smaller of the two bears swings down a hard kick to the top of Blues' head, causing him to go crashing into the ground.  
Bacchus and Mithril meet halfway as they both charge. They begin exchanging strikes, and also avoiding each attack with seemingly relative ease, until Bacchus' unorthodox style of evading begins to catch up with Mithril. Mithril throws a strong right hook but Bacchus twists his body oddly, right under the hook. Mithril was wide open. "Drunk Chop hanging Palm: Under Moonlight!" Bacchus rears back and then slams his palm into Mithril's gut. Mithril goes sliding back, but that was about it as he held his stomach. Bacchus raised a brow at the astonishing endurance, the fact that the mage took such a blow but was merely phased. "Well…." Bacchus charges Mithril again, but this time, instead of charging back, Mithril conjures up a magic circle above everyone, just above the buildings. At the next second random bolts of lightning came raining down, aimed at Bacchus. He sees the first one and slides hard to the right. He also avoids the second one by continuing his charge at Mithril. As he reared back an open palm, Mithril smirks, and merely claps his hands together, causing a loud thunderous clap that was so strong, after a struggle to stay on his feet, it sent the S class Bacchus flying backwards. While in the air, another lightning bolt comes storming down, slamming Bacchus into the chest as he hits the ground.  
"Bacchus!" Blues screams out as he sees Bacchus hit the ground. Ursa Major comes up behind Blues, swinging his axe horizontally. Blues ducks as a trail of water leaks from his mouth, signifying the signature dragon slayer attack. "Roar, of the Aquatic Dragon!" Ursa minor was about to swing down one of his twin swords at Blues as he again jumped over Major, but the roar slams into them both, causing them to slam into the wall of a building and disperse.  
"Tch…damn Bears." Ruika grabs another key. "Here we go. Gate of the warrior, I open thee! Orion!" Out of the shining gate a tall warrior holding a shield and sword walks out, now standing majestically…until he goes down to one knee, holding Ruika's hand.  
"Oh Ruika, how can I protect your beauty from being in harm's way on this day? This day that belongs to-"  
Ruika slams her fist into Orion's head. "Will you stop and just destroy them over there!?" Orion holds the back of his head. "A-anything for my love." "Don't call me that."  
Blues was on the charge. Water gathered around his fist again as he swung a haymaker at Orion, but the warrior's shield blocked the punch, causing Blues to stumble back from recoil. Orion smirks and goes for a stab, but out of nowhere, Bacchus jumps over Blues and slams a palm downward into the sword, causing it to stab into the ground. Bacchus then gets in close again and strikes an open palm uppercut into Orion's chin. As Orion falls backwards, trying to regain himself, Bacchus turns back to Mithril. "Keep your guard up Blues, that was almost it for you. I must admit guy, that lightning of yours is pretty wild. But you're messing with Quatro Cerberus! You should quit now."  
Mithril chuckles. "Good one. Let's stop playing around now eh?" As soon as he finished his sentence, Mithril appeared with lightning speed right beside Blues. This was the first time they were in close combat range, and the smell of Mithril put Blues in shock.  
"You smell…. Like a…" Before Blues could regain himself from Mithril's aroma, a lightning infused fist slams into his jaw, causing him to go sliding into the ground, now floating in and out of consciousness. This left Bacchus between Orion and Mithril. "Now," Mithril said as he and Orion surrounded him. Ruika looked on with a smirk. "Let's see where that unorthodox style gets you.  
Bacchus performed into his stance with widened eyes of excitement. "Bring it on! MY SOUL IS QUIVERING!"

.

Hours passed since Taya stormed out of the guild. When Nami got her strange feeling, she left the guild as well to go look for her sister. Everyone else remained at the guild. Kuro was at a table by himself, torn between his new friendship with Daityas and the disapproval of the guild. He sighed heavily as he looked out the snowy window, watching the flakes fall from the sky. Reve and Zalen walk over and sit down with him.  
"I'm sorry." Kuro quickly apologized. "I didn't know Arc-san and Taya would get so upset. I just wanted to be his friend because he seemed alone. It didn't seem fair that we gave them a chance and not Daityas."  
Reve sighed and patted Kuro on the shoulder. "It's okay Kuro, it isn't your fault. In fact you're exactly right."  
"Yeah." Zalen chimed in. "We gave Taya and Arc a chance, and they've turned out for the better. Daityas should of gotten one too. He said he was no longer a part of a dark guild, so we should take his word for it unless he gives us a reason to not trust him. If he can put up with your high spirits all day, then there's no way he can be evil right?"  
Kuro smiles and nods. "Right! When Taya gets back I'll talk things out with her, but I'll apologize first!"  
Reve shook his head as he smiled. "I still don't approve, but he hasn't done anything wrong yet… You're a saint Kuro. It makes me nauseous."

"Aira! Aira where are you!" Nami came bursting through the door in tears. The entire guild turns to her. "Oi, why are you bursting in here with—" Michio immediately stops talking as everyone looks on in shock at who, or rather what Nami was carrying in her arms.  
"What happened!?" Jaxon shouted as he looked at the figure covered so heavily in burns that you could barely recognize Taya.  
"Never mind that!" Zain takes Taya from Nami's hands and carries her to the infirmary. "Aira! With me!"  
"H-H-Hai!" Aira follows Zain to the infirmary as he puts Taya's completely burned body down on the bed. She quickly began to use her healing magic. "I don't think my magic is strong enough for this Zain..!"  
"Just give it all you have, and take a break when you're drained." Zain begins shuffling through medical books on the bookshelf, tossing everyone that didn't give the information he needed. "Come on… I remember we have a book in here somewhere about this. Dammit Zain how do you not remember this out of all things!?"  
Back in the main room, the eyes of everyone slowly turns to Kuro.  
"Stop right now!" Zalen yelled as he stood up from the table to stand in the line of sight between everyone and Kuro. "If you dare think of blaming Kuro for something he didn't have control of! Tell em Reve!"  
Reve's eyes were covered by his hair as he stared at the table he was sitting in. Without saying a word, Reve gets up and heads for the door. Before he could reach it, Adamantine and Sidney stand in his way.  
"Move before I put bullets in both of you."  
"I know your soul is aching Reve." Sidney took a step closer. "But we don't know him, going out for revenge isn't what's best right now."  
"Move. Out. The. Way."  
Adamantine crosses his arms. "Don't be an idiot. The same thing will happen to you. It seems that Daityas guy is pretty tough to take down an S class. And you're an S class."  
Kuro stands with a shaky voice. "Hold on! We don't know if it was Dait!"  
Reve loses it. He walks back over to Kuro and flips the table against the wall, shattering it. Kuro flinches in fear. "Who else could it be you idiotic bastard!? Who's the only fire user in this area besides you that isn't here huh!? Who's the only one that came from a dark guild!? Are you that dense!? Not every shithead is pure of heart Kuro! This is your fault!"  
"Hey!" Jaxon steps in between Reve and Kuro, Kuro in near tears from Reve's words. "Leave him be! I know you're upset Reve.."  
Reve, with a clenched jaw, walks to the infirmary, where Aira was already tired from her healing magic. Zain was still looking frantically through books. Reve stopped at the side of the bed and leaned towards Taya.  
"I'm so sorry for what I said. You were right. And I swear on everything that bastard will pay for what he did. I'll make sure of it. I'll have his head mantled on a wall."

Reve clenches his fists at the sight of Taya and turns to storm out the guild, only to have his wrist lightly grabbed, but enough to make him stop.

"Please don't leave me…."


	20. Chapter 20

White Eclipse  
Chapter 20

Reve was sitting in a chair, pulled up next to Taya, still holding her hand. Nami was on the other side of the room, looking on. Aira was resting up from depleting her magic while Zain was still shuffling through books. Everything else was quiet as the rest of the guild members looked through the window to the infirmary.  
"Didn't know Reve had a heart of any sort." Adamantine smirked. "Kinda makes me lose a bit of respect for him."  
"Reve is a nice guy. You just have to get to know him." Zalen replied. "He's always here for us, we just forget that because when everything's okay, he being an ass.  
"... Taya's in bad shape." Takeru peers a bit harder into the window, looking at the burn marks all around her.  
"Her soul is barely active." Sidney says.  
Just then, Luke walks in whistling. "Hey, what's going on? Why are we around the infirmary? Who lost?"  
No one speaks. Instead, they give Luke room as he walks to the window to see Taya. "Oh my god... What happened!?"  
"Kuro's friend happened." Michio replied, shrugging as if he was unphased by the situation.  
"Wait! We don't know that!" Kuro yelled.  
"Aira?"  
"She's trying." Jaxon stepped back into the view of the window. "She would make progress, but she would run out of magic. The burns would just reappear. "  
"Found it!" Zain jumps up, after countless reading, he's found the problem.  
"They're Hell's flames. The burns won't go away until they are completely removed in one healing sweep. But Aira can't do that alone."  
"I know someone who can help..." Luke said with a defeated look. Everyone turns to Luke. "Well?"  
Luke sighs "...I'll be back."

"What are you thinking?" Nami looked over at Reve. Reve kept his eyes on Taya. He had his hands folded in front of his face, as if he was saying a prayer, the last thing he was doing. "I'm thinking about which gun to put in Daityas temple."  
Nami averts her eyes to the floor. "You know."  
"I swear to god, if you start talking like Kuro's pure of heart ass about how it could of been someone else I'll shoot you right here. Look at your sister before you open your mouth."  
"Reve! I'm not saying it wasn't him. But I am going to wait until Taya comes too."  
"I can't wait for her too. So we can go to war on Tartaros."  
"What!? Reve that's not a good idea!"  
Reve doesn't respond. Just merely sits in his own thoughts.  
"Hurry up old man. I can't handle this guild alone yet."

.

"It's going to be weird going on this job without Lucy, Natsu."  
"Aye.. I know. But we still have Gray Erza and Wendy. We just need to hurry before those Eclipse bastards take it."  
Natsu and Happy were walking in the now half empty streets of Magnolia, headed back to the guild. Until an explosion of sorts was heard from east Magnolia. Natsu quickly turned his attention to that direction. "What was that!?"  
"I don't know!" Happy answered. "It came from the abandoned streets!"

"You seem tired there big guy." Mithril and Orion continued to surround Bacchus as the drunken falcon began panting heavily. Bruised covered his exposed body and even parts of his armor were broken off.  
"I'm... Just getting ...st-started!"  
"And we haven't even begun." After speaking Ruika pointed at Bacchus. "Alright Orion! Slice him into pieces! Ruika looks down as Orion once again appears on one knee, holding her hand. "Anything for you, my Ruika. For no matter how many times I get knocked down, I'll-" Before Orion could finish, Ruika slams another fist into the top of his head. "Stop being weird!"  
Bacchus looks at Mithril, and then Orion. He then shifts his eyes back and forth to view his options.  
"Well?" Mithril asked with a grin.  
"Where's that /wild/ attitude of yours you had a few minutes ago?"  
"Right...here!" Bacchus turns to Orion. Orion puts up his shield, but the power of Bacchus palms slams right into the shield, causing it to crack right on half.  
"Orion's shield!" Ruika called out.  
"Now to get rid of you! WILD!" Bacchus ducks as Orion swings his sword at him horizontally. He then slams a palm into Orion's right shin, causing him to fall forward, but while in mid air, Bacchus rears a palm back and slams it into his chin. The force of the blow sends Orion flying right towards Ruika, until she forces a gate closure on Orion. "Four..." Mithril took this opening. Bacchus had his eye on Mithril during the whole thing, until just like Laxus, Mirhril had turned himself into a bolt of lightning. He reappeared to the right of Bacchus, catching him off guard as he swung a lightning infused left hook to Bacchus jaw. The hook connects and sends Bacchus' body grinding into the ground until he came to a slamming stop at the base of a building.  
"Finish him Mithril."  
"Hold on." Mithril begins walking towards Bacchus, who was unable to move from that last blow. He sat hunched over as he was implanted into the building. "My bloodlust is running. I want to have a bit more fun."  
Mithril stands in front of Bacchus now and claps his hands together hard, causing a loud thunderous sound. The heavy sound waves slam into Bacchus, and with no where to go, his head bounces off the brick wall behind him, causing even more damage as he coughs up blood from the sound waves slamming into him.  
"Yeah, this is fun." Mirhril smirks as he claps again, having the same result as Bacchus gives out a silent scream of pain.  
"You animals need help. Just finish him so we can finish our job and go." Ruika huffs out.  
"Alright Alright." Mithril turns to Bacchus once again as lightning swarms around his fists. "It's been fun, drunk. Time to end this though."  
"Roar of the Fire Dragon!" Mithril looks up as a giant funnel of fire comes rushing towards him. He jumps backwards to avoid it as Natsu jumps down in between him and Bacchus.  
"Who in the!?"  
"Natsu wait up!" Happy comes flying in from above.  
"Natsu? Dragneel huh?" Mithril looks on at the Salamander.  
"So that's him?" Ruika muttered. She then sighs as Blues makes his way to his feet again, beside Natsu as the stood in the way of Bacchus. "It's time to go Mithril. You remember what he said if we ran into him."  
"Yeah yeah, just do it."  
"No one's leaving until I pound you both into the ground!" Natsu pounds his fist into his open palm, igniting both hands.  
Ruika raises a key slowly, almost hesitantly. "Ugh... Gate of the bat... I open thee. Batto.  
Out of the gate. A large humanoid bat appears. "What is it this time?"  
"Tch. Give us an illusion cover."  
Batto turns to Ruika. "Maybe you should just run? You could use the exercise."  
"Why you! Just do it!"  
Batto smirks as his eyes glow purple. The next second, the entire area turns black. Ruika and Mithril haven't moved a muscle as Natsu and Blues look around.  
"What?" Blues frantically looks around seeing nothing but Natsu Bacchus and his opponents.  
"Stop playing around!" Natsu charges and swings a fist at Mithril, only, it goes right through him. This causes the illusion to disperse, but when it does, the two mages were gone.  
"They're gone." Blues looks around as he takes a few steps forward. He then dusts himself off and re straightens his tie.  
"Who were they?" Happy asked  
"Dark mages.."  
"Dark mages!?" Happy's eyes widen dramatically.  
"We've handled dark mages before Happy. That's no problem."  
"Last dark Mage you fought, she was beating you Natsu."  
"NO SHE WASN'T!"  
Blues walks back over to Bacchus who was out cold. "Bacchus." He waves his hands in his face. No response. "...Bacchus they took your gourd."  
Bacchus jumps up, panting heavily as he looks around. "Drop it before I..! Huh?" Bacchus looks around to see the two mages gone. He then notices Natsu standing a ways in front.  
"Oi...Natsu."  
"Bacchus."  
They exchange nods. Bacchus then groans as he leans back to get the soreness out his back.  
"So why were they after you two?" Happy asked.  
"They weren't." Blues replied. "We asked what they were doing, and all they said is that they were dark mages. That was good enough for us."  
"You guys okay now?"  
"Two mages aren't gonna keep me down Natsu." Bacchus smirks as he finishes stretching out the soreness. "We appreciate the back up though."  
"Alright. We'll see you guys around then." Natsu begins walking off until he turns back to Blues. "And Blues, I can't wait to fight you. We need to do that sometime."  
Blues, at first surprised by the Salamander's words and respect for him, smirks and gives him a thumbs up.  
"Wild!"  
"FOUR!"

.

Everyone was sitting around the guild, doing the usual. Wendy was sitting at a table, facing outward as Levy and Laki stood in front of her, giggling about something that was said.  
"So how do you think Lucy's date went?" Wendy asked as she began kicking her feet.  
"The better question is, did Natsu ever run into them." Laki replied.  
Levy gives a small smile. "I'm sure everything was fine.  
"Hai!" Wendy hops up from her seat. "I can't wait to hear about it!"  
Just then, a familiar face walks into the guild, causing everyone to stop.  
"You couldn't respect the treaty huh kid?" Laxus begins walking to Luke who had just entered.  
"I'm not here for trouble. I need your...your help" Luke stares at the ground, nearly ashamed of what he was asking.  
Levy arches a brow as she cuts off Laxus' walking. "What's wrong Luke?"  
Luke takes a deep breath, still trying to regain himself from what he was about to ask.

"Well?" Elfman poked. "Be a man and ask what you came here to ask!"  
"I...one of our mages...our family members...Taya.." Erza's eye perk a bit, remembering the name of the female that trapped her in the dome. "She's been burned really badly, by Hell's flames. And...Aira can't do it by herself! So Wendy, can you please help us?"  
Before Wendy could answer, Gajeel walks up beside Laxus and wraps an arm around his shoulder while leaning a bit to Luke. "How about you beg for it?! Gihehe!"  
"What!?"  
"You heard me! We didn't get an apology for shooting Erza. So nows a good time to beg for our help!"  
Laxus sighs. "Gajeel your Phantom is showing."  
"Excuse me?"  
"I'm sorry. Your Raven Tail. That's a more up to date reference."  
"I don't care about that." Gajeel walks past Levy and up to Luke. "Beg for our help!"  
"Gajeel that's enough!" Makarov yells out. But before another word was said, Luke was already on his hands and knees, his eyes covered by his hair. "Please...Taya might not make it if we can't help her. I know you would do anything for a guild member of your own...so please help us. I beg you!"  
Everyone looks at Luke with sympathy. Gajeel stares, keeping an emotionless look, but he knew Luke was right. He waves his hand in dismissal. "Hey now...get up I was only messing. Quit making your guild look worse than they already are."  
Luke makes his way to his feet as Wendy runs over. "I'll definitely help Luke! Lets go now so we can heal Taya! I know someone else who can help us as well!"  
Wiping his eyes, he smiles as looks down at Wendy. "You're a saint, Marvel."  
"I'll go with her. Just in case." Erza says as she steps into view again.  
"She just wants to beat up Reve." Levy whispered to Mirajane as she nods in agreement.  
"Thank you again, Wendy. Thank you."

.  
"What do you mean you didn't plant the lacrima!?" Daityas slams his fist through the table of a bar he was sitting at in the corner, causing Ruika to flinch. Too outraged to care who was around, he turned to the bartender that was looking at the damages. "Turn around!"  
"I-it wasn't me! Mithril wanted to play around and-"  
"Shut up!"  
Usually, no one feared Daityas unless he was actually upset, like he was now. Mithril stands emotionless with his arms crossed as Daityas walked up to both of them. Behind them, Kiora and Maggie couldn't help but snicker.  
"Hey," Maggie whispered. "You really think Tayakata and Arc will join us by the end of the year?"  
Kiora shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. In all honesty, I hope they say no, so Daityas' magic circle can take that entire area down."  
"Well well, what do you have against that bloody guild eh Kiora?"  
"Nothing. I just wanna see things die. That's usually fun. AMIRITE MAGGIE!?"  
"YOU RIGHT GIRL! YOU RIGHT!" The two females begin exchanging high fives as Sora walks in the room upset.  
"You two didn't come find me!" The little girl yelled out.  
"Shhh!" Kiora responded. "We'll find you later Sora damn. I'm trying to watch this!"  
"Meanies!" Sora folded her arms.  
"Oh wow your insults hurt Maggie, Sora."  
"Fat butt!"  
"Okay listen here you little shit."  
"Will you three shut up!? Five minutes!? Huh? Damn!"  
Daityas turns back to Mithril and Ruika. He slams the lacrima back into Mithril's hand. "Go back to the city, at the spot I told you too. And plant the lacrima, /Without/ causing attention. Do that. Please!"  
"He said please, so now they have too." Sora smiled.  
Kiora stares at Sora for a bit before responding. "You're a corrupt little kid, aren't you?"  
Sora tilts her head and giggles at the comment.

.

(After a brief time skip) White Eclipse was in near silence. Takeru, Selene, Kairi, Kai, and Jaxon never left the window. Everyone else was sitting in the main room, quiet. Except for Skye who was giving out a small humming sound to lighten things up. That quickly stopped with Adamantine and Michio giving her a low glare.  
Inside the infirmary, Reve, Erza and Nami stood to the side as Aira, Wendy, and Chelia stood around Taya.  
"This better work." Reve sighed out.  
"Have a little faith Reve." Erza replied.  
"I have faith in Aira, it's the others that need to come through."  
Erza, with her arms folded, merely sighs as she closes her eyes for a second. "Everything isn't competition."  
"I know. It's about family." Erza was actually shocked a bit and confused from Reve's response, since he didn't act like a family guy. "I love everyone in my guild. And since I love them, I stay on them. They deserve the best. But the difference between us and the fairies Erza, is that I don't lie to them, letting them think they're already are the best /and / no one will be better. I tell them the truth, letting them know that-"  
"No matter how much better we are than everyone, it's not about staying ahead of our opponents and competition. It's about staying ahead of ourselves." Nami finished Reve's statement that seemed to be his anthem to the guild. Reve looked at Nami in a bit of surprise as she smiled at the gunslinger.  
"Didn't think any of you listened." Reve said while looking at Nami.  
"You're all we got when Calium isn't here Reve! You may come off as a jerk but we know the deal. Plus Taya likes you so you must be doing something right."  
"Alright." Wendy nodded. "You two ready?  
Aira and Chelia nodded as the spoke in unison. "Ready!" And with that, all three of them placed their hands over Taya as the healing process began.  
"They started." Jaxon called out. A bunch more of the mages gather around the window as the three girls start healing Taya.  
Minutes after minutes go by. Aira's and Wendy's knees begin to buckle from over exertion. A few more minutes go by and at the same time, they both fall over, Reve and Erza catching them. "A-Almost there!" Chelia called out. The burn marks from the Hells Flames were nearly gone. Her knees begin to buckles from over exertion as well, but Chelia holds herself up as she pushes on. Finally, Taya's body was completely healed from the Hells Flames. Chelia smiles and then falls over as well, with Nami catching her. Aira and Wendy make their way to their feet. After a minute, Taya's eyes flutter open.  
"Huh?" She sits up. "Where..."  
"Taya..." Reve stands in relief, yet a bit of surprise that it actually worked.  
"Reve.. and..Erza?"  
Erza nodded. "Hai. I came here with Wendy. Her, Aira and Chelia here healed you."  
"I'm..thankful." Taya slowly gets up from the bed.  
"Uh! You shouldn't be moving so much so soon!"  
"Heh. Relax cowboy.. I'm fine now."  
"I'm sure you know who did this to you right?" Erza asked.  
"We all know, Reve chimed in."  
Taya's eyes lit up in remembrance to what Daityas said if she was to tell anyone what really happened.  
"It wasn't him...!"  
Reve turned back to Taya in shock and disbelief.  
"Taya if you're trying to cover for him..."  
"I'm not... It was a dragon.."  
"A dragon!? Taya come on now, those things don't even exist anymore!"  
"Awkward." Adamantine whispered.  
"Hm?" Jaxon looked up. "You say something Adam.  
"Nope."  
"Believe me please.. It was a dragon that attacked me."  
"So it wasn't Dait!" Kuro exclaims to himself outside the infirmary.  
"Well." Erza chimed in. "I would believe it. Fairy Tail was attacked by one before. Years ago."  
"Well what did it look like?" Reve asked her.  
"...I don't exactly remember. It was red and orange. Bright orange really."  
"Hmm." Erza rubs her chin. "Well, from my experience, dragons don't stay in one spot, so it's doubtful that you'll see it again. In the meantime, we'll be taking our leave now. Can you walk Wendy?"  
"Hai."  
Erza begins carrying the worn out Chelia towards the door.  
"Hey." Reve called out.  
Erza stops and turns back to Reve.  
"Thanks for your help, but this doesn't change much you hear?"  
Erza merely smiles, and then heads out the door.  
"Till next time, Reve."


	21. Chapter 21

White Eclipse

Chapter 21

A day has passed. Though everything has died down, questions were being raised on what was going on between the dark mages, and Fiore.

"A dragon!?" Natsu quickly jumped up from his seat. "Where!? When!?"

"Natsu! Down!" Makarov walks into the middle of the guild with a stern look on his face. "After what happened with Acnologia back during the S class exams, and the massacre after the games. I don't want anyone here chasing dragons for any reason! Do I make myself clear, Natsu!?"

Natsu slams his hands on the table. "Screw that! This is my chance! That dragon could lead me to Igneel!"

"Natsu! This isn't up for debate!"

"I know it isn't! That's why I'm going!"

The entire guild watches in suspense as Natsu dares to defy and hold his ground against Master Makarov. "Going against master is not a man." Elfman muttered.

"All I've wanted was to find Igneel! You're not gonna stop me from that!"

Natsu screamed out. "I'm not going to tell you again Natsu! You're not chasing after a dragon! Now you can listen to what I say and stop being a best dammit! Or you can leave this guild with no intention of coming back!

The guild was in complete shock now as whispers and murmurs were heard all around.

"Master that isn't necessary." Erza spoke, but Makarov merely stuck his arm out to silence Erza, and to show he wasn't kidding.

"Natsu..." Lucy and Happy looked on, waiting for Natsu's decision.

"Just drop it flame brain." Gray called out from the right.

Gajeel took a few steps forward, now standing with his arms crossed. "There's something's you just gotta let go Salamander. This is one of them."

Natsu bared his teeth in frustration. He then turns to the job board and grabs a random job without even looking and starts walking out the guild.

"Natsu!" Happy begins flying towards the door , but it slams in his face.

"Natsu.."

"Just give him time to cool off Happy." Erza stated. "Maybe a solo job will be good for him."

"Aye...sir.." Happy sniffles, feeling bad about Natsu as he stares at the door, hoping for him to come back for his partner...

.

.

.

Aira was seen sitting alone, looking out the window of the guild. She sighed as she continued to look out into the snow and mountains. Jaxon and Zain were sharing a laugh from a conversation, when he spotted Aira from the corner of his eye. Jaxon walks over to sit across from Aira. They exchange smiles, Jaxon's was obviously brighter. "What's wrong Aira."

Aira slowly shakes her head, still smiling a bit. "Nothing really...it's just. I feel bad for not being able to help Taya by myself. I needed Wendy and that Chelia girl's help. And then Chelia lasted longer than any of us. Is there really that much stronger wind users?"

"Yes." Jaxon replied. "But they're only temporary. It's up to you to get stronger than them. You can do it. You're White Eclipse after all!"

Aira simply nods. But she agreed. "I guess sitting here isn't going to help any huh?"

"Listen up!" Reve takes center stage as everyone turns to the gunslinger.

"Now that Taya is okay, we can go back to what we're supposed to be doing. As I look around, I realize this guild is kind of crowded feel me? It's time to train. In less than a year the Grand Magic Games come around in full circle. On that day, we'll take what's ours! Until then. Go out and train like your life depended on it, because your guild's name does! For now until the games, unless the job says otherwise, anyone who goes on a job, has to go alone for better training. I don't care who you train with, but that's the job rule until it's time for the Games. Now, lets prepare to show them why it's White Eclipse or second place!"

Nearly all of the guild erupts in cheers.

"Hey Jack!"

"Hm?" Jack Royal turns to Zalen who was walking up to him. Zalen bows in respect like he would do to any one older or someone he respected to that level. "You're still joining the games right?"

"I really didn't want to, Zalen, but after what I heard happened last time, I have to." Jack takes another chug of the alcohol in his hand before finishing his statement. "The preliminaries.. That's too embarrassing. So yeah, I'll join. If I don't get cut by some of these newbies." Jack give a boisterous laugh while Zalen smiles.

"Taking a job already?" Selene looks over at Tak who was in the midst of pulling off a job flyer.

"Might as well. I like the idea of a solo job. Gives me a chance to learn to watch my own back."

"That's a good point, but I'll stay around the guild for a while and train."

"Suit yourself." Takeru gives Selene a salute as he begins heading out the door.

"You're not gonna pack anything to take with you?" Selene called out, but Takeru was already out the door.

Skye skips over to Kairi and Kai, who were sitting in what now seems their usual seats.

"So what are you two gonna do?" Skye asked.

Kairi shrugs. "Train? Hopefully make a team for the games. I wouldn't mind representing, but there's heavy competition. So training and jobs is all we can do."

"What she said." Kai responded. "There's heavy competition here just to be an alternate, let alone make the team."

"There's no limit to alternates though." Skye replied.

"And? That's the point. Anyone can be picked, so why us? That's why I'm gonna work hard." Kairi stood up after her words and began to walk to her room. "So starting tomorrow, I'll do some serious training."

"How serious? And why tomorrow?" Sidney appeared right in front of Kairi. Kairi falls back to her rear from Sidney scaring her out of her mind. "D-don't do that!"

"I can feel it. You have a powerful soul, so I want to see if your magic can back up what your soul feels. So how about a spar in a bit?"

"But..you're the ace here.." Kairi looks around a bit, to see if anyone was gonna come for her "rescue." No one moved, only watched.

"It's just a spar. I want harm you...much." Sidney then disappears in a white cloud of smoke, appearing beside Jack at the bar.

Jack merely smirks, now intoxicated completely. "Always scaring the kids neh?"

"Just want to see the new members in action Jack. Would be ashamed if they got lost in the shuffle.

.

.

.

"Erza where are you going?" Lucy asked as she walked up to the S class Mage who was holding a job flyer.

"I decided to take a solo S class job. I feel it would be good training to go alone this time. Like what Natsu just did." Erza smiles at Lucy and gives a salute.

"Gihe, I like that idea. Solos and training." Gajeel smirks as he head nods to Pantherlily. "Come on Lily, lets get some training in."

"Hai!" Lily nods as well as he hops down from the bar and begins walking out with Gajeel.

"Solo missions and training huh?" Lucy pondered the memories of last years Games and came to the conclusion that she too needed some alone training. "I guess that sounds like a good idea. I'll join the wave!"

.

.

.

Natsu stood in front of the train, wincing and wobbling before he even stepped foot on the train. His job required a three hours train ride, and he quickly regrets it.

"Maybe I should..."

"Afraid... of a little..transportation, Salamander?" Takeru appeared next to Natsu, also shaking from the thought of transportation.

"You!" Natsu points at Takeru. "What are you doing here!?"

"Just going on a job. You?" Takeru replies in a calm manner.

"Aye, same." The two dragon slayers begin to stare each other down.

"What's your job...?" Takeru asked, getting a bad feeling that today was not going to be a good day.

They both hold up their flyers. [Help wanted: Ancient artifact stolen from Fiore Bay city museum. Please see caretaker for more information.]

"..."

"..."

Takeru sighs... "I saw this coming. Look, Natsu, I know our /treaty/ says that we can't dispute. And I know you're not gonna just go home. So I-"

As Takeru turns, he sees that Natsu was standing on the train steps as it begins to slowly take off.

Natsu waves as it begins moving. Takeru begins walking until he's beside Natsu as the train slowly picks up speed.

"Natsu...move."

"Nuh uh! No fighting!" Natsu smiles from ear to ear as Takeru starts to jog to keep up with the train.

"I swear if you don't move I will push through you, Salamander."

Natsu continues smiling...until the train hits it's first bump. In a flash, Natsu goes blue in the face as he weakly wobbles around, trying to stay up on his feet.

"HA!" Takeru takes this opportunity and jumps in through Natsu. He smirks as he holds on to him, but then quickly hunches over as he too feels the effect of motion sickness.

"L-let go of me!" Natsu tries to push off of Tak but he has no strength. With another bump of the train, the two go tumbling towards the back of the train. They both land ok a seat on top of each other, until Takeru pushes Natsu off of him, and into the seat across from him. Natsu lands in the seat. Sitting next to Natsu, who was already in the seat before the struggle, was Fiore's renowned blonde haired white dragon slayer, Sting. He was hunched over from the motion sickness, holding his stomach like Takeru, while Natsu held his head back in distress.

Sting looks over to his right after noticing who landed next to him. "N-Natsu-San?"

Natsu forces himself to fight through the sickness as he looks over at Sting. "Sting? W-where are you headed."

Sting grins as he holds up the exact same flyer that Takeru and Natsu had.

"Of course you are." Takeru responded.

"What?" Sting asked. "You guys too?"

They both nod in unison. Sting then grins, but goes back to holding his stomach before he speaks again.

"That's fine.. A little competition on the job we'll be fun." Sting then turns to Takeru. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure we've properly met yet. I'm Sting. Sting Eucliffe. One of Sabertooth's twin dragon slayers."

"That's nice." Takeru responded. Sting blinks. "Umm..yeah. And you are?"

"Takeru."

"No last name?"

"L-last name isn't important."

"He's from...White Eclipse." Natsu spews out as he hunches over as well.

"Oh! S-so you're...you're from the guild that everyone's hearing about. Nice! That's how Sabertooth got started as well."

"Don't compare us, we're ...obviously better."

"Oh!? Well we'll find out later won't we!?"

.

.

.

"Fire make: Knuckles!" Kuro slams his right fist into a giant boulder placed in front of him. The boulder smashes into big pieces as Kuro stands there, panting.

"Not bad. You're getting there." Daityas stood with his arms crossed, observing Kuro as he trains. "Take a quick break and we'll try again."

"Hai! Thanks again for helping me train Dait! I'm sure you could have better things to do right now."

Daityas shrugged. "Eh. I have a lot of free time now a days. Don't make a deal out of it." Kuro nods as he behind rotating his shoulder. "Okay! Lets try this again!" He slams his palms together as a magic circle appears. "Fire make: knuckles!" As fiery fists appear over Kuro's normal ones, he rears back a right fist and slams it into another boulder. The boulder again breaks into pieces. Daityas watches as he begins thinking to himself. "That's right..get nice and strong Kuro. I may have plans for you later on in your life. And when the time comes. I will call on you." Daityas can't help but smirk at his own thoughts. Kuro notices, but believes it's for a different reason. "Was that good!?"

"Huh?" Daityas snaps out of his own thoughts and returns to Kuro. "Oh, yeah, great job. Lets call it a day. We'll pick up tomorrow, same time alright?"

"Hai!"


	22. Chapter 22

White Eclipse  
Chapter 22

As the train comes to a stop, Natsu, Sting and Takeru all fall out of the train into a pile. After taking a few minutes to recover, they all three stand and fix themselves up. "Time to get going." Takeru says, finishing dusting himself off.  
"Yeah." Sting replies. "Where's the paper say we should meet the guy?"  
"Um." Natsu shuffles around his pockets for the job flyer. He then does it again in a frantic pace. "...I lost my flyer."  
Sting laughs. "Oh Natsu-San! Responsibility isn't your strong suit!" As Sting talks, he shuffles through his pockets, realizing he can't find his flyer either. "..."  
"You were saying Sting?" Natsu commented with a smirk.  
"I don't know what happened I just had it! Well, at least Takeru has his-" Sting looks ahead at the shadow dragon slayer, who was taking off into the city at full speed.  
"Takeru! I bet he has our flyers! He wants the job to himself!"  
"Oh no he doesn't!" Natsu takes off after Tak. Sting right behind Natsu as they chase Takeru through the city.

.

[FLASBACK]  
A near empty guild. The guild was no bigger than a small house meant for two people, yet inside were six boys of different ages and an older man. Towards the right were Sidney and Zalen. Zalen was only a toddler, playing with blocks while his older brother Sidney watched him. Zalen builds up a well constructed tower and begins laughing and clapping. Sidney smiles as he does so.  
Over to the left, Waiston and Jack were bothering the significantly older male that wore a fitting white robe. He had black hair and green eyes. Waiston hung from his robe as Jack laughed. The older man's eyes begin glowing both black and white in agitation as he releases some magical pressure, causing a wind of light and shadow mixture to send them both flying through the wall.  
In the corner of the guild, was the newest asset to their guild. Kuro Crane. The red haired kid sat at a table alone, holding a picture of him and an older woman, smiling happily. Kuro flipped the picture over to some writing on the back.  
{I'll always be around kid. No matter how annoying you are. Thanks for making me smile and you're welcome for the fire make magic.  
-Mary}  
As he flips the picture back around, tears stream down Kuro's face and pitter-patter against the image. He tries his best to smother his sobbing, but with such a small room and with everyone within hearing range, it doesn't help.  
"Hey.." A young Reve Volver walks up to the crying Kuro. He rolled up his sleeves as he approached him. "What's up with you? It's kinda weird to cry on your first day in Fiore's strongest guild." Reve smirks as he places his hands on his hips. The young gunslinger looks on as Kuro looks back at him and sniffles.  
"S-sorry. I.. I just can't find my mentor. She was like my mother. And she left me in the mountains..to protect us against some giant winged monster."  
"Giant winged monster?"  
Reve gave him a puzzled look. "And she never came back?"  
The tears slowly start again as Kuro's voice shakily answers. "No..! I... I looked..I looked everywhere! There's like twenty stupid mountains here and I could barely scale one and...! And...!" Kuro begins crying again, unable to hold in his heartbreak.  
Reve merely watches. He then picks up the picture from Kuro's hands.  
"Hey! That's mine!" Kuro cried out. The last thing he wanted was his only picture to be ruined.  
"So this is her huh?" Reve examines the photo of the woman with short, bright blonde hair and orange eyes.  
Reve flips the photo over and reads the back of the photo.  
"Alright."  
"Alright?" Kuro sniffles again, looking at Reve in confusion.  
"Hey guys! Come here!"  
Sidney and Zalen walks over to Reve, then Jack and Waiston crawl out of the hole in the wall and stand around the teary eyed Kuro as well. "Look at this." Reve hands the picture to Sidney. Everyone else leans in to take a gander as well.  
Kuro gets a worried look as he watches. "Please don't tear it!"  
"So what? This your mom or something?" Waiston asked.  
"Nah, that's his mentor. She taught him his magic. Fire make right? She's missing." Reve replied.  
Zalen fixes his oversized glasses as they flip the picture over and reads to himself. "Wow..she must of meant a lot to you huh? Don't feel bad, everyone here has lost someone close to them."  
"She's not dead!" Kuro yelled, the tears reforming in his eyes.  
"She isn't. That's why," Reve stood up on the table as he held up a W with his right hand. "It's our job to find this Mary! So Kuro has other reasons to cry! Like when we beat him up when we fight for the big piece ls of meat and fruit!"  
"I'm in. If she can teach you magic that means she's strong. So she's alive I'm sure."  
"We're brothers here!" Waiston shouted. "So that means if she's close to you, she's close to us. Which means we have to save our family!"  
Kuro was speechless. He didnt know how to react for a bit. "You guys would really help me find her?"  
"We won't stop looking until she's found Kuro!" Waiston yelled out as he pounded his chest.  
Reve then holds out his index finger towards Kuro.  
"What's this?" Kuro asked, giving Reve a puzzled look.  
"This is how we make promises here. Give me you index finger."  
Kuro stretches out his finger. Reve then wraps his around Kuro's and smiles. "You see, a pinky promise is weak, because the pinky is the weakest finger. But the index, it's much stronger than any pinky, kind of like us to other guilds, even though they don't know it yet. This is a White Eclipse promise. So we of White Eclipse, promise Kuro, to find his mentor, Mary."  
The tears come back again. But this time Kuro smiles and hugs everyone in unison as the flashback starts to fade.  
"Hey! None of that!" Reve and Sidney pull away as Jack Zalen and Waiston laugh, keeping them in the circle. [End flashback]

As the flashback completely ends, Reve was standing outside on the steps, looking out to the snow as Jack and Sidney walk up beside him. Zalen and Waiston join from behind.  
"He'll be okay. You know Kuro is sensitive." Jack stated. "You said things you didn't mean and he took them to heart, but Kuro could never hate anyone."  
"I know... I know..."  
They all continue to look out into the snow, until Skye quietly walks out.  
"Ahem..uh..Reve?"  
"Hm?" Reve holds his head up to know he acknowledged her calling for him.  
"Well, I want to be in the games. And in order to do that I need to train hard, so I was wondering...from one requip Mage to another...will you help me train from time to time?"  
Skye quietly waits for an answer.  
"...Sure why not. I need to get to know you newbies anyways if you're gonna wear my guild mark. We'll start tomorrow, me and Jack already have a spar planned."  
So happy and unsure of what to do, Skye hugs Reve quickly. "Thank you, you won't regret it!" She then runs back inside while the others, besides Sidney, laugh at Reve's disposition of being hugged.

.

Erza was walking through a forest outside the town of Stone Heart. She held up a flyer that read the S class job she was focusing on. {Help wanted: twelve giant Wyverns causing chaos around the town of Stone Heart. Nest located just outside of town.}  
"Wyverns huh? Giant winged beast. This won't be an easy task alone." She takes a deep breath as she sees a giant nest come into view. "But it'll be a good training stint."  
"No way! Erza Scarlet!? Now that's Wild!"  
Erza turns her attention upwards as she spots Bacchus on a lone tree branch.  
"You're kidding." The scarlet haired mage sighed. "Bacchus, what are you doing here?"  
"What's it look like?" Bacchus hops down /right/ in front of Erza. He hiccups as his face was pink in the cheeks. "I'm here for the Wyvern job. Just like you it seems."  
"It seems that makes three of us." Out from a plateau, a purple haired mage jumps down and now beside Erza and Bacchus. She nods to Erza. "Erza."  
"Kagura? You too?" Erza asks, looking at the Mermaid Heel Mage.  
"Now this is a party, heh. I know that no one here is going to leave. So just don't get in my way once the Wyverns show up. I'm taking them all out." Bacchus began laughing but then quickly stops as a dozen dots in the sky began flying towards them. They land on the ground, all in a row. In the back, was a Wyvern twice the size of the others. They all let out a roar at the three mages at the same time, pushing them back.  
"I guess they aren't here for negotiation." Kagura commented.  
"Kagura? When did you get such a humor?" Erza smirked as her body begins to glow. She reappeared in her flame empress armor.  
Kagura crouches with her hands on her sheathed sword as Bacchus takes another chug of his gourd.  
"Alright! Lets get WILD!"  
"Four!" Erza and Kagura state as all three of the mages run towards the Wyverns. Erza more flying than running.

.

"Are..are you ready?" Kairi blinks in confusion at Sidney, who was just standing there with his eyes closed.  
He finally opens them after a few minutes of silence. "I'm ready. I had to lower myself for a minute, but I'm ready now."  
"Lower yourself? He can't be that strong.." Kairi shakes off her thoughts as her body begins to glow a white light.  
"Angel soul Takeover!"  
"Angel soul?" Cygnus and Michio look on as Kairi sprouts white wings from her back. The rest of her appearance changes as well as she is shown as an angelic figure.  
Without another word Kairi fires a giant beam of light towards Sidney as she charges. Sidney watches the beam come hurling in, and with perfect timing, a magic circle appears under him and above Kairi. Both magic circles run through their respective mages, causing them to switch places.  
"What!?" Kairi realizes where she is, but not in time as her own beam of light slams into her, causing her to go tumbling until she uses her wings to recover and take flight. She then charges at Sidney full speed, looking to engage in hand to hand with the ace of White Eclipse. She rears back a right hook. Sidney throws a jab to counteract, causing a stalemate, which fell right into Sidney's plan as he then throws a quick kick into Kairi's stomach, causing her to go sliding into the ground again. As Kairi recovered and looked up to where Sidney was, all she saw was a white puff of smoke. Another puff of smoke appears behind her as Sidney grabs the back of her collar and throws her to the right. She catches herself though and begins charging a magic circle in front of her. "Meteor blast!" Through the magic circle, a bunch of "meteors" of light go charging at Sidney. Sidney lunges forward while dodging. One of the meteors scraping his shoulder. He then comes to a sliding stop as he swings a high kick to Kairi's head. She ducks, but as she comes back up, looking to throw a punch of her own, Sidney slams a back kick to her chin. Her eyes go completely white as she falls backwards from the blow, landing in a KO. in the snow.  
"Oh..." Sidney walks back to the guild, passing Michio and Cygnus. "Someone go pick her up."

.  
"Do you see him!?"  
"No!"  
"Darnit!"  
Natsu and Sting ran through the city frantically looking for Takeru, turning every corner and inspecting every crook.  
Sting stops. "Okay okay! Do you remember anything that the flyer said!?"  
"Um..." Natsu scratches his head. "Something about... Muse memes?"  
"Muse meme? What the hell is a... Museum!" Sting was about to take off running to the city's museum but stops and turns to Natsu.  
"Natsu... Can you read?"  
"I CAN READ JUST FINE!" Natsu screams out. "Lets just get to the museum now before it's too late!"


	23. Chapter 23

White Eclipse  
Chapter 23

One Wyvern takes a fiery slash through the chest. Erza flips over and lands on top of the flying monster who was now spiraling out of control towards another. Erza jumps off of the previous Wyvern and jumps to the next, stabbing it right in the back, causing it to cry out in pain. The flames in the sword begin to amplify to Erza's will, burning the Wyvern as it continues to shriek in agony before joining the other one crash landing into the ground. On the ground, Bacchus and Kagura split up, Bacchus takes the left and charges a Wyvern that was flying low towards the drunken falcon. He goes sliding under the Wyvern and rears back an arm, then slams it against the back of it's left leg, causing it to fall to a knee and skid across the ground. Bacchus holds on to it's tail and pulls as the Wyvern finally comes to a stop and in that second, Bacchus sprints to the head of the Wyvern and slams a powerful palm into the neck of the Wyvern, another one lands down right behind Bacchus and lets out a roar. At the same time this was going on, Kagura used her gravity manipulation on herself, causing her to go floating into the air at a high speed. She targets the Wyvern in the air and used her momentum to slam a hard kick into it's neck, disorienting the beast. Kagura then changed the gravity again causing her and the Wyvern she was under to go plummeting to the ground. With timing, she uses the momentum and too fast for the naked eye to see, she slashes through the Wyvern that was about to attack the seemingly exposed Bacchus. The falling Wyvern falls onto the other one, causing a decent crash and crater.  
"Tch, I had that one." Bacchus groaned. Five were down, and seven remained. Four of them swooped down and surrounded the three mages. They all go back to back as Erza's body begins to glow again , this time revealing her black wing armor.  
"Ready!?" Erza called out.  
Bacchus simply lifted up his right leg and slammed it back down, aiming at the Wyvern facing him. A trail of magic blasted through the ground and to the monster, lifting it off of it's feet and backwards into a K.O.  
Kagura runs at a Wyvern herself and as it swings down it's tail, Kagura jumps over it and onto it's back. She then travels up to the head and leaps. Erza, who had took flight during all this, grabs Kagura by the collar and ascends into the air. As they did so, two more of the winged beast surround Erza and Kagura. Erza throws the purple haired mage towards a Wyvern. The beast swings a tail but Kagura barrel rolls to dodge it. She then plants her feet into the chest of the beast and pushes off as she "flies" towards the one behind Erza. At the same time, Erza was charging full speed towards the other one. They both simultaneously slash through their opposing Wyverns, causing them both to fall to the ground, crashing into the dirt.  
Eight down.  
"Note to self. Learn to fly." Bacchus said to himself jokingly as he watched Kagura and Erza descend to the ground.  
"Bacchus!"  
On instinct from the tone in Erza's voice, Bacchus ducks. The Wyvern just swoops over his head and ascends while making a turn, planning on repeating it's action as it begins the descend towards Bacchus again.  
"Oh!? You wanna challenge Quatro Cerberus' S class Mage to a test of strength!?" The Wyvern lets out a roar as it swoops down to just above the ground, now charging Bacchus. Bacchus grins and holds his ground, sliding his back foot into the ground.  
"He's crazy." Kagura stated.  
Erza smirks. "You don't even know half of it."  
The Wyvern roars one more time as it lowers it's head at Bacchus. Bacchus leans /way/ back in a twisting way that only his body would let him, and with perfect timing, he slings his head forward into the Wyvern's, causing a huge shockwave. The animal's eyes immediately go white, but to add insult to injury, Bacchus takes his right palm and slams it against the beast's head downward, causing it to slam into the ground, and then some.  
Kagura blinks in amazement. "Well...that makes nine."  
Not to be outdone, as Kagura looks over at her, Erza stood in her giants armor. A Wyvern swoops down and charges. Erza runs at the Wyvern and when close enough, she ducks, and slams an uppercut to the Wyvern's chin, sending the beast flying, into the air, only to have it crash land into the ground, out cold.  
"Hm.." Kagura turns to the eleventh Wyvern. She enhances the gravity above the Wyvern, pushing it down to slow it's movements. Kagura then closes her eyes, as the Wyvern was now a sitting duck. And with that, Kagura appeared on the other side of the Wyvern as a slash mark appears on it's chest. The Wyvern collapses from the blow.  
Bacchus looks on impressed.  
"She is fast. I almost can't see it happen."  
"Looks like there's one left." Erza says as they all turn their attention to the Wyvern that was twice the size of the others. The massive beast takes a few steps away from the nest. Inside the nest, now into view, was a little girl with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a small hat. That was all that was visible at the time. She laid, either asleep or unconscious.  
"You guys see that!?" Bacchus called out. "That thing has a kid hostage. That isn't wild!"  
"This has just became a dangerous situation." Erza stated.  
They all ready themselves as the Wyvern roars towards them, sliding them back a good bit.

.

Takeru began walking through the back alleys of the city. After meeting with the care taker, he knew exactly who he was looking for.  
(Quick flashback.)  
A man in an all yellow suit stood outside the museum. He had brown hair that stuck out from the sides under his top hat. He began talking to Takeru about the job.  
"They're called the Fiore Bay bandits! They're usually known for small time work, hitting up stores and what not. But for some reason, they hit my museum! But all they took was this!"  
The caretaker holds up a picture of a piece of what seems to be a vase. The piece has a black magic circle painted on it.  
"So all you need back is that piece?" Takeru asked.  
The caretaker nodded vigorously. "Yes yes! It is priceless! That piece is a piece of the legendary vase of the demons!"  
Takeru wasn't interested in the upcoming story. He began walking off as he waved a hand. "No need to explain anymore, I'll retrieve the vase."  
The caretaker calls out one more time. "Be careful! The Fiore Bay bandits are tougher than the seem when together!"  
(End flashback.)  
Takeru begins shifting his eyes around as he looks for a sign of some sort, showing where the bandits were located. And...just like that. Deep in the alley at a dead in, was a door. Above the door, there was a sign...the sign read "Fiore Bay Bandits."  
Takeru sweat drops, yet still keeps an emotionless face. "I feel like this is a trap. No one is this stupid to have a sign to a hideout when they're wanted criminals." He shrugs anyways and kicks open the door. Upon he kick and entering inside he looks around as a bunch of bandits were sitting around drinking and laughing until Tak made his presence known from the kick.  
"Hey!" A random bandit let out. "It was unlocked! Now fix it!" The bandit walks towards Tak, now face to face with him. "Did you hear me!? I said-" Before he could finish, Takeru grabbed the bandit and literally threw him into the ceiling. Half of the bandit's body hung out from the ceiling, while the other half was on the second floor. Out cold. Just like that every member of the bandits stand in unison. "You're gonna regret that." A voice calls out from the back. An average height male with a red mohawk walks to the front. "You've messed with the wrong gang."  
Takeru was about to attack the guy, but he noticed the the piece from the museum around his neck, shining. The last thing he needed was to break it.  
"Speechless I see." The bandit leader laughed. "That's what happens when you roll up on Tresh and the Fiore Bay bandits!" Tresh begins walking away when he snaps his fingers. The entire gang charges Takeru. Takeru growls as he crouches and readies himself. But before he could attack, through the brick wall from the side, a unison raid of fire and light barrel through, slamming into nearly all of the members on the floor. Natsu and Sting jump through the hole in the wall. Sting eyes Tresh while Natsu was already in Takeru's face. "You thought you could ditch us huh!?" Natsu screamed out. Takeru leaned back as Natsu yelled. "Get out of my face."  
"What did you do to my crew!?" Tresh looked at the carnage in shock. "You...you..."  
Sting smirked as he walked over to the others, now across from Tresh.  
"Hand over the piece. Or suffer the same fate."  
Immediately Tresh starts running upstairs. When reaching the second floor, he heads for the next door,  
until a raging inferno fires through the floor right in front of him. Seconds later, Natsu and Takeru jump through the newly formed hole as Sting comes running up the stairs. Tresh looks around but then smirks. "Looks like I'm cornered huh!?"  
"Ya damn right ya are!" Natsu shouted.  
"Hand over the piece and no one gets hurt." Sting yells out.  
"Aw, but I like it when people get hurt." Tresh smirked as he stayed between the three dragon slayers.  
"Then here, let me help! Roar!" Natsu inhaled as he prepared to fire at Tresh.  
"No!" Both Sting and Tak called out at the same time, but it was too late. "Of the Fire Dragon!" The giant funnel goes roaring towards Tresh who doesn't move a muscle until it was close to contact. With a wave if the hands he sends the funnel of flames off to the right without even touching it, causing it to crash through a wall.  
"What the!?" Natsu looks on puzzled.  
"Manipulator." Sting narrows his eyes as Tresh now stands in a cocky manner.  
"You want this piece so bad. Come and take it!"

.

"I just got done getting my ass kicked. Why do I have to do yoga?" Kairi complained. Nearly every girl of White Eclipse was outside in shorts and a tank top, stretching and doing Yoga poses, led by Aira. "Oh come on Kairi!" Aira giggled. "This is good for you. Aira goes to a bridge, pushing herself up and stretching her body out with her hands and feet on the ground. The remaining girls follow her lead. "Ahh~" Selene and Nami let out a moan of relief, feeling their bodies stretch out.  
On the roof, Cygnus, Luke, Jack and Waiston sat watching somewhat discreetly. Blood slowly trailed from their noses.  
"The female anatomy is a wonder." Jack stated. Everyone nods in unison.  
Just then, Sidney towers behind all of them, causing cold chills to go down each spine. "You clowns want to sit around and perv at your female guild mates? Lets fix that."  
Cygnus sighs. "Come on Sid-" before he could finish Sidney grabs all four of them by the collar and jumps off the side of the building away from the girls.  
"Jack you have a spar already. You should find Reve." He lets go of Jack and drags the other three to the back. Once back there, he drops Cygnus in front of a smirking Adamantine. "Cygnus huh? He'll have to do." Cygnus stands and looks at the towering "mage."  
"...Well then. This will be interesting."  
Upon more dragging. Sidney drops Waiston off in front of the refreshed Tayakata.  
"Shouldn't you be doing yoga like the other girls?" Waiston asked.  
"That's funny," Taya replied. "I was about to ask you the same thing."  
And finally, Sidney drops Luke in the snow with Jaxon in front of him.  
"Huh? Jaxon's my opponent?"  
Sidney walks over and now stands away from Luke. "...shit."  
"Alright. Go."  
Cygnus charges Adam with his right fist reared back. As he swings, he uses his magic, enhancing the gravity as he swings down. Adam puts up a forearm to block. The blow itself causing a decent sized shock wave.  
After a bit of a struggle, Adamantine smirks. "My turn." He rears back, and fires an uppercut. Cygnus leans away, but the icy wind that trailed behind the blow catches Cygnus off guard as he feels the painful, chilling sensation behind it. "Just like W-Waiston!?" Stuck in thought, Cygnus takes a kick to the gut as he rolls into the snow.  
"Like who?" Waiston turns his attention to Cygnus. Taya takes this opportunity to conjure up a magic circle. Out of the circle, dozens of dark vectors slams into him while forcing him into the air. Two of the vectors grab Waiston by the legs and sling him down to the ground afterwards. "Roar of the Ice Dragon!" While still being tied up against the vectors, Waiston fires off his signature roar, only to have it blocked by a wall of vectors. Taya has yet to move a muscle.  
Luke smirks as he gives Jaxon the bring it sign. Jaxon then simply raises the temperature around them, causing the snow to melt up to Luke's knees. Quickly, Jaxon lowers the temperature with his magic again back to the normal ice cold weather. The water quickly turns to ice as Luke was stuck knee deep in ice.  
"Darnit!" Luke enflames his fists and begins punching the ice, slowly making leeway on it. Until Jaxon sends a tornado he created towards Luke. Luke had just got his feet out as the tornado consumed him, slamming the copy cat against the violent walls. Moments later, the tornado starts to turn red as the fire shoots out from it. The tornado disperses as Luke lands on the ground on one knee, already panting.  
"Heh. This is why I love this guild though." Cygnus and Waiston make their way to their feet as well, all three of them with a grin of excitement and anticipation. "Everyone here is strong. It only makes you want to get stronger."  
With that Luke, Cygnus and Waiston charge their opponents once more.

.

Takeru comes towards Tresh with a flying kick, but once again Tresh just sends the mage flying. Tak goes flying past Natsu and into the wall. Sting tries the same as he throws a couple of light infused punches, but Tresh, after dodging a few, with a wave of the hands, sends Sting to the other side of the room. Natsu charges again, screaming out as he aimed an iron fist at Tresh. The bandit leader merely throws his hand up, causing Natsu to be lead by his fist into the ceiling. And then back to the ground. Natsu scrambles back a bit to gather himself. Sting and Takeru also raise back to their feet as they surround Tresh. "This guy's annoying." Natsu called out as he wipes his chin.  
"He's not even strong. It's his stupid magic." Takeru replied.  
Tresh begins laughing. "It doesn't matter how strong you are if you can't touch me!"  
"The fact that I have to do this is embarrassing, especially after all the training I've been doing to beat Natsu-San. But... White Drive."  
Just then, Sting's body cloaks in a white light as his hair stands up a bit. With a new cocky smirk on his face, he circles Tresh a bit and stops. "Last chance bandit. Surrender or feel the wrath of the White Dragon Slayer."  
Tresh begins laughing again. "You want some!? Come on!"  
And with that, Sting charges Tresh full speed. In that same instant, he ducks Sting's first and only punch, and places both palms on Sting's abdomen as a red magic circle appears, creating what seems like a gust of wind right through Sting, causing his white drive to not only disappear, but shoot from out of his body. On top of that, the white drive was now pure white magic, and it was charging at an unready Takeru.  
"Tak!" Natsu calls out, but it was too late. The white drive's magical energy slams into the shadow dragon slayer. Causing an explosion of light everywhere.  
"Takeru!" Sting calls for him through the explosion. But instead of answering back, a loud inhaling sound was heard through the smoke. "N-no way!?" Natsu and Sting looked on as the massive explosion of light was being inhaled by Takeru. Instead of taking damage, he's eaten the light. At first nothing happens. But then a black and white circle appears under his feet as his hair starts to waver upward. At first, his normal shadow aura covers him like always, but then, a white aura spirals around Takeru as he stares Tresh down.  
"White shadow..." Sting looks on in shock. "Just like Rogue from the future."  
"He better not end up like Rogue." Natsu replied, still looking in awe.  
Takeru pointed at Tresh. "You has enough warnings. It's time to end the overrated bandit.


	24. Chapter 24

White Eclipse

Chapter 24

[Flashback]  
The near empty White Eclipse guild; Reve and Jack sat at a table. Reve was sitting on the top while Jack actually took a seat, eating his meal. Sidney was on the floor next to the table doing pushups with Zalen on his back while the toddler was laughing and having a good time. Over near the broken down bar counter, the older, black haired man was opening a letter. The title of the letter read "Official starting guild rules." He began skimming through the letter. "Okay, we have that, and that. The things I do for these brats, I don't even want to be a guild master, but I had to stumble across homeless mages." He keeps skimming through the letter until he comes across the S and SS class rules. "Hm? S class?" The older man begins to read aloud quietly. "Each guild must have at least one S class mage, but be warned of the responsibilities and dangers posing as an S class mage can bring." The older man shuffles through his hair. "S class mage huh? Sounds like someone who's plenty strong. But if I was to choose which one of these preteen runts would be my S class mage, who would it be?" He turns and looks at Reve, who was twirling a pistol in his hands. He then looks over at Jack, who was happily yet slowly chowing down on his already meager portions. Finally, he turns to Sidney, who was now doing pull-ups while having Zalen hold on to his back. "Well he is the oldest of them all, even if it's only a few years past Jack and Reve. Hey, Sidney." The older man called out.  
"Yo." Sidney responded, still continuing with his pull-ups.  
"How would you like to be considered an S class mage?"  
"S class, what's that?" Reve quickly asked making sure he wasn't missing out on anything. The older man smirked, already knowing what was about to happen once he explained. "An S class mage is a mage that is ranked higher than the regulars due to his strength usually, along with other intangibles. There's also missions you can go on that only people from your rank can do. In other words, you'll be a higher authority than everyone else here."  
Sidney hops down and takes Zalen off his back. "In that case, I accept, Master Calium."  
"Don't call me that, I'm not even seventy yet, I don't need to sound old."  
"Hold on!" Reve shouted, while slamming his hands on the table, causing Jack's plate to go flying off the table. Reve completely ignored it while Jack watched the plate and food go flying everywhere all in one slow motion. "If anyone here is going to be an S class mage first, it's me! Reve Volver, and no one else!"  
"I figured this would happen, and I've read what to do in this situation. So in this case, we're going to have a challenge. It's called the S class exam, and don't worry, there's no paper work. It'll be Sidney Castle, vs Reve"  
Before Calium could finish, Jack stands, and shoves Reve off of his feet, causing the young mage to hit the ground. "Hey! What was that for!?"  
"Not only are you clumsy, you're rude as hell and wasteful!" Jack shouted pointing to the food on the ground. Reve looks over at the wasted rations and then back at Jack as he dusted himself off. "One, don't push your future S class mage again; and two, Screw your food, you've been eating that small plate of nothing for the past hour. Be a man and finish like the rest of us, card boy."  
"You think you're bad because you have like, three guns in your stupid arsenal?! They're all pistols!" Jack and Reve were now forehead to forehead snarling at each other.  
"One is a magnum! And it'll blow you to pieces! So go shuffle your stupid deck somewhere else before you get hurt! I have an exam to win!"  
"Exam huh?" Jack turns to Calium and raises his hand. "Old man,"  
"I'm not an old man!" Calium shouted.  
"I, Jack Royal, throw my name in the S class exam!"  
"He can't do that can he!?" Reve shouted.  
"What's the matter pistol popper?" Jack taunted. "Afraid of losing?"  
Reve snarls. "I'm not losing to a future black jack dealer!"  
"You wanna go right now!?"  
"I thought you'd never ask!"  
Calium couldn't do anything but smile as both Jack and Reve deck each other right in the nose. Both of them stumble back. They both were about to come again until the door swings open with little Waiston and Kuro carrying a body over their shoulders.  
"Help!"

The flashback ends as Jack and Reve stand across from each other in the front yard. Every new member was around watching since they've never seen the two go at it, even though it was just a spar. A smirk creeps up on both of their faces, as if they were having the same memories of each other and knew it.  
"Go Reve!" Skye randomly shouted while standing around with the other newer members.  
"Been a while." Reve stated.  
"So let's make it count." Jack replied. With his response, he flashes two cards and flings them towards Reve. Out of the cards, fire a funnel of wind and fire, causing the fire to grow exponentially as it rushed towards Reve. Reve started to run to the right, but just then, a wall of earth shot out into the air, blocking Reve's trail. This didn't stop Reve though, as he began running up the wall a bit and flips off of it. While upside down on the flip, Reve requips two pistols into his hands and begins firing off small but piercing bullets of magic towards the tipsy mage. Due to the drunken style of movement Jack has adapted over the years, he swayed his body in an intoxicated motion, a movement that seemed sloppy, yet it cleared him of the incoming bullets until Jack summoned a magic circle, bringing up a wall of earth in front of him to block the bullets. He then extends his arm forward, pushing the rock wall towards Reve while the first one he summoned swings behind him, now looking to sandwich the guns mage in. With his precision eyes he sees what's going on and quickly requips into a single sawn of shotgun and runs towards Jack and the new rock wall. With a giant leap, he clears half of the rock wall. He then plants his feet and wall jumps off of the giant plated earth, just reaching over the two walls as they slam together and smash into smaller, but still well sized pieces. Reve was taking aim at Jack in this moment, but he was taken off guard as the broken pieces of earth began to swirl around in place, blocking the view of Jack as he began jumping from boulder to boulder until he reached Reve with a downward kick to the chest. He follows by flinging a card down towards Reve. The card glows as it fires out another pile of boulders.  
"He's making the field his advantage." Kai stated. "If he keeps this up, Reve will have nowhere to go.  
"Reve is fine!" Skye shouted.  
Reve flips onto an incoming boulder that shot out from the card, he then begins dodging and hopping from boulder to boulder. Jack comes rushing towards Reve as well, and swings a left straight at the guns mage's head, but Reve beats him to the attack as a small magic circle appears under his gun, swinging it forward at a blinding speed. As the gun points against Jack's stomach, Reve open fires a point blank burst shot, causing Jack to go flying and then falling back before he flips onto a rising plateau he just created. Now, with Jack on the plateau, and Reve on a floating boulder, the two stare each other down with grins on their faces.  
"Intense." Kai whispers.  
"I'm sure we're done with the warmups?" Reve asked.  
"Just waiting on you, Reve." Jack slides out two more cards and throws them to opposite sides. A giant whirlpool begins rushing from the left towards Reve. From the right, bolts of lightning combine with the whirlpool as it picks up speed, destroying the boulders in the way in the process. Reve smirks and requips again, this time another shotgun appears in his free hand. A long white jacket appears over his body, the coat tails hanging down to his feet. He hops up to a higher boulder and crouches. He then leaps even higher as he spreads his arms and legs, hovering over the giant electric whirlpool. Reve flips back to the ground and immediately charges the plateau Jack was standing on. When in his gun's range, he opens fire alternately with both guns, forcing Jack of the plateau. But as Jack jumps off, the plateau breaks into decent sized rocks and fire towards Reve. He takes a step back, only to feel a rock wall rising up behind him, giving Reve nowhere to go. Reve growls and begins letting loose everything he had at the incoming swarm of boulders. He took out most of them before dropping his two guns and reaches in his closed jacket to pull out two more. He fires them off again, shattering the boulders into pieces, just barely surviving the onslaught of boulders before they could do any damage.  
"He shot them all down!?" Kairi looked on, amazed yet puzzled.  
"Go Reve!" Skye shouted.  
"Keep it up Jack!" Kai shouted as well, just to keep the fan base even.  
Reve charges Jack. Jack charges Reve. They begin exchanging punches and kicks, both seemingly evenly matched. Reve throws a straight, but Jack ducks it and grabs Reve's arm, flipping him over and down to the ground. On the way down, Reve requips into his magnum. As he hits the ground, Reve holds onto Jack's collar and holds the gun to Jack's temple. At the same time, Jack had summoned to small but rock hard pillars on opposite sides of Reve's head; a mere inch away from squashing his head in.  
Kairi looks on. "A stalemate?"  
Reve and Jack begin chuckling. "Some things never change huh?" Jack asked while helping Reve to his feet. "Unfortunately no." Reve replied as he dusts the snow off him. "But they will one day, for better or worse.  
Jack smiles. "Come on let's go inside and get a drink. On me."  
Reve narrows his eyes. "The drinks are free, Jack. Since we already bought them."

.  
.

Bacchus, Erza and Kagura go sliding back from the massive Wyvern's roar. All three now panting from the struggle they're having against the giant beast.  
"This thing is insane." Bacchus stated.  
"It's quick for its size too." Kagura chimed in.  
Erza begins to glow a golden light. The light disperses, revealing her in her soaring armor. "Alright, let's try this again."  
As the three mages charge the Wyvern once again, above them, off to the right, on a mountain side stood two familiar faces. Maggie and Kiora stood with a male with shortd black hair. All three of them watched the action going on.  
"You know, we could have retrieved the piece by now if you wouldn't have sent Sora down there to get it." Tobias claimed.  
"Shut your hole, wanker. Sora is way stronger than you are. That kid will murder you before you could get close." Maggie retorted while not taking her eyes off the brown haired girl in the nest.  
"Tch. Anyways, why did she change her hair?"  
"Tobias, don't be an idiot." Kiora said while sitting off the edge of the mountain cliff. "It wouldn't be smart for those three clowns down there to remember her real appearance."  
"Damn you're so stupid." Maggie snorted.  
"Really stupid actually." Kiora added.  
"I never met such a retarded ninny in my life I swear it."  
"Mithril has a bigger brain than you and he can't spell."  
Tobias crossed his arms. "I hate you both, stop jumping people all the time."  
"We're a team, it's what we do." As Kiora made her last statement, the brown haired Sora began shuffling through the nest as if she was looking for something.  
"Hurry up Sora, before those wankers actually beat that Wyvern." Maggie now watched on the edge with Kiora. Sora shuffles through the nest some more until she stops, and holds up what seems to be a vase piece with a dark red magic circle on it. She waves to the three dark mages on the mountain.  
"Holy. She got it!" Kiora jumped up. Her and Maggie dance around in a circle laughing happily as they hold hands.  
"…..Two of the most feared mages here everybody." Tobias stated.  
"Wow who are you talking to?" Kiora asked.  
"Hot damn you're a weird one aint ya Tobias?"  
"Weird as shit."  
"Talking to nobody and shit, damn wanker lost his mind I bet."  
Tobias, clearly annoyed, just huffs as he looks back down at Sora. Sora, after waving, drops the piece into her shadow, causing it to "disappear." Her shadow then disconnects from her feet and begins making its way up the mountain side until it reaches Maggie. It then hands over the vase piece. Maggie holds it up in the light and examines it. "Alright, so, we currently have four out of the five pieces needed thanks to those clowns down there. Now we wait on Ruika to retrieve the last piece from those idiot dragon slayers."  
"Oh my god Tobias shut up!" Kiora gave him a serious stare, but then quickly turned to Maggie with a giddy look on her face. "Okay we have four pieces and all we need is for Ruika to hurry up with the last piece and we have the vase!"  
"I just said that." Tobias mumbled.  
"I know girl, we are great yeah?" Maggie had the same identical look as Kiora. "We should make sure Sora doesn't get into any trouble while those mages are down there."  
They all turn back to the fight scene as Erza and Kagura had gotten behind the Wyvern. Kagura made a beeline to Sora, while Erza jumped onto the beast's back and ran up to its head. At this time, Bacchus kept its attention by attacking and dodging, working on the legs of the wyvern. After a concentrated attack to its right hind leg, Bacchus caused the wyvern to fall to one knee. "All yours Scarlet!" He yelled out as he rolled away from the wyvern. Erza jumps into the air and requips one last time. Her chest now covered by bandages as she wielded two swords. She spun past the wyvern as a slicing sound was heard. As Erza lands, the wyvern stands still for a few seconds, and then collapses on the ground white eyed. She stands back up and she requips back to her normal armor and exchanges grins with Bacchus. "Just like old times neh?"  
Bacchus laughs. "Except that we'd be fighting right now."  
"There's always time." Erza smirked.  
Back at the nest Kagura comes over to the teary eyed brown haired girl. "It's okay, they're all gone now. How did you get stuck here in the first place?" Instead of answering, Sora cradles herself into Kagura and sobs quietly. "Aw, I'm sure you live in Stone Heart, let's get you….home." Kagura notices something strange about the girl she was holding. She didn't have a shadow. She checks again, but no shadow was there. "That's odd." She looks at her own shadow, to make sure it wasn't just Sora, but her shadow was there. She turns back to Sora, only to notice that a shadow was now visible under the girl. "…..I need sleep."  
"Holy shit that was close!" Kiora let out a sigh of relief.  
"Hmph. Almost blew it. See you two back at the guild." Tobias took a step, and Kiora trips him. He quickly gets up and towers over Kiora in anger, but she just gives an innocent look as she leans away from him and whistles.  
"Stop playing around so much!" Tobias yelled.  
Tobias stepped away from Kiora, only to be tripped by Maggie. They both burst out laughing.  
"Damn homie you fell for that! Get it!? Fell!? Because…shut up and let's get Sora." Maggie keeps laughing as Tobias stands and walks off.  
"Idiots."  
"I heard that! We know where you sleep Tobias!"

.

"Holy Shadow Ray." Takeru fires a mixture of light and shadows towards Tresh, and just like everything else, he manipulates it away; but as he was occupied with that, in an instant, Takeru slides behind the bandit and slams a punch to his jaw. Tresh goes sliding across the floor until he finally came to a stop. "It seems you can only manipulate one thing at a time. How unfortunate." Takeru stalks Tresh as Natsu and Sting look on. "Ugh. That still won't stop me." Tresh takes off running, but Takeru cuts him off. He tries to turn around but Sting and Natsu also stand in his way. Sting feigns a punch, causing Tresh to be on guard. Takeru takes that opportunity to snatch the vase piece off his neck. "Hey! What the!?" Tresh was completely open. "Iron fist, of the Fire Dragon!" As Takeru clears the area, Natsu slams his fiery fist into the wide open bandit's chin, sending him flying through the wall and instantly KO'ed.  
Sting walks up to and stands beside Natsu as they look at Tresh. "That wasn't so bad once we worked together huh Natsu-San?"  
"I'll say." Natsu nodded in agreement. "Great work, especially you Takeru! Takeru…" Natsu and Sting looked around frantically until the both shouted simultaneously. "HE DITCHED US AGAIN!"

Back at the museum Takeru stood with a panting Sting and Natsu as they received their equal share of the reward.  
"Thank you thank you!" The caretaker shouted, holding up the piece of vase. "I am so grateful."  
"Just doing our job!" Sting exclaimed as he smiled. "You guys ready to go? We might as well head back together, since we're all the same stop.  
"Whatever." Takeru stated. "Might as well not be the only one who's sick on a train."  
"Oi..don't remind me."  
Natsu holds his stomach as he walks with the others away from the museum. As the leave they caretaker's sight, his appearance starts to change, as well as the museum behind him. As the illusion fades, the actual museum shows to be a little more ways behind where the illusion was. The caretaker was now Ruika and Batto. Ruika stood, holding Batto's key.  
"That took a lot of magic. I'm beat." Ruika sighed out.  
"Magic? What magic? I did all the work." Batto stated. "You just stood there doing a bad impression of a man."  
Ruika narrows her eyes at Batto and force closes the gate. "Annoying. Now, to get back to Tartaros."  
Out of the gate, Orion appears, cradling Ruika bridal style, catching her off guard. "I'll carry you home my love. Your feet should never have to touch the filthy ground for they are-"  
Ruika slams a fist into Orion's head and lands on the ground, now scolding Orion. "I didn't call for you now did I!?"  
As Orion disappears Ruika begins her walk back to Tartaros.

A small time skip later, the mages of Tartaros all stand in front of Daityas as he stood in front of the vase. Daityas holds out the two pieces as they begin to float towards the incomplete vase that was sitting on the table. The incomplete vase already held a dark yellow, dark green and a dark blue magic circle. The black and dark red magic circle then connects to complete the vase of demons. Daityas then carefully picks it up and begins laughing.  
"…..So what flowers are we gonna put in it?" Kiora says. Her and Maggie start to snicker. Even Ruika joins in until Daityas turns around.  
"Oh you three, always the riot. This vase, is the vase of demons. It has the ability to bring anyone from the dead, and under your control, to a certain extent."  
"Okay?" The puzzled Mithril looks on. "And who died?"  
"No one yet. But oh someone is going to." Daityas turns to the pictures on the wall. The pictures were of each mage in Tartaros. He eye's two pictures that have been shaded out. "Isn't that right, Tayakata and Arcturus?"  
Sora jumps up and down clapping.  
"Arcy is coming home!"  
"Yes Sora, Arcy is coming home."


	25. Chapter 25

White Eclipse

Chapter 25

Several weeks have passed. The members of Fairy Tail sat around the guild up to their normal routines. Everything was back to normal as Fairy Tail had a full guild. Over by herself, Lucy held a Sorcière magazine. On the cover of the magazine, was Takeru, standing in his White Shadow dragon mode. The caption on the magazine read. {If you thought they couldn't get any stronger.}  
As Lucy flipped through the magazine, Wendy walks over and sees the cover.  
"It seems they're becoming very popular." Wendy said while pointing to the cover.  
"Huh?" Lucy turned the magazine over to realize the cover and scowled a bit. "Yeah, can't deny a good guild. If only they weren't so arrogant about it."  
"Hey, lets take a day and not talk about those clowns. We know we're better and we'll prove it like we proved it to Sabertooth." Gray stated as he stood there shirtless.  
"Gray-Sama is right!" Juvia exclaimed as she fawned over the shirtless Gray with hearts in her eyes.  
"Hai!" Wendy nodded. "Anyways, I should get my training out the way. It's such a nice day out!"  
"Right!" Lucy stood up with a determined look and a clenched fist. "We gotta keep training! Besides White Eclipse isn't the only problem!"  
"That's right Lucy." Erza walked in with her arms folded across her chest. "It seems Quatro Cerberus is out to prove something as well. With a few new recruits."  
"You mean Blues?" Natsu asked. "I can take him no problem."  
"Not just him. But there's another I've heard about, just haven't seen yet. Then there's Bacchus himself."  
"I wonder who the other one is." Lucy thought to herself. "If he or she gathered Erza's attention, then that mage must be strong."  
"Also, who knows what Sabertooth is hiding. We haven't even seen their new master yet and it's been months since the dragon attack." Erza turned to Makarov. "Master? Any word on that?"  
Makarov just smiles as he lifts his mug. "Nope! But that isn't something to fret about. Lets just focus on staying number one in Fiore!"  
The guild cheers with each other as Makarov shouts out his last sentence.  
"Alright! I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted.  
"Gihe! This time, whoever's team I'm on will win. No joining together this time since Raven Tail is banned." Gajeel stood up from his seat.  
"Hey old man, /once/ I make the cut to represent Fairy Tail again, I want to be on the B team. We're going all the way."  
"Oh yeah!" Natsu shouted as he took to the table top. "Then put me on team A again! We'll show you whose the top team!"  
Makarov laughs. "Alright settle down you two. We're not even close to the games yet. Keep training hard so nobody will be able to touch you."  
"Yeah!"

.

Out in the plains, right before connecting to a random forest, a random red and orange blur goes running by at a high speed, leaving a harmless trail of fire behind it. The blur comes to a sliding stop as it passes Daityas. Daityas clicks a stop watch as the now visible Kuro was seen panting a bit from his run.  
"Thirteen second. Not bad Kuro." Daityas smiles as he looks back at Kuro who now had his hands on top of his head. "That's a big improvement on your time. Your fire make magic is really improving huh?" Kuro turns off his fire make: Hermes. He then falls to his butt from a long days training. "Y...yeah. Feels great...!"  
Daityas extends a hand to Kuro and Kuro grabs it, pulling himself up.  
"That's enough for today. This sun is getting to uh both of us and I have a long walk home. Hopefully I won't dry out before I get there."  
"If it's that long of a walk, you can come to my guild for a bit before you start back. I dragged you out here, least I can do is let you rehydrate."  
"I don't want to impose Kuro."  
"It's fine!" Kuro smiled while tugging on Daityas arm. "If anyone says anything I'll deal with them." Daityas begins to smirk to himself as they walk back to the guild.

Taya was seen sitting across from Reve at a table in the kitchen, sipping a cup of hot tea she had with her. She takes a sip, and a look of content comes across her face. As she was enjoying her tea, Takeru walks over to her.  
"Let me have some." The Shadow Dragon slayer demanded.  
"What? No, get your own Takeru." Taya pointed to the kitchen. Takeru doesn't budge. "I'm the white Shadow dragon slayer. You have to do what I say."  
"You're still going on about that!? Takeru, sit down before you get hurt."  
"You can't hurt me, I'm the white shadow dragon-"  
Before Takeru could finish his statement, a dark vector wraps around his waist and launches him out the kitchen as he goes tumbling into the main room. "I wasn't ready!"  
Ignoring his statement, Taya takes another sip of her tea,  
Now relaxed again. Reve simply smirks and gets up from the table. "It's time for target practice. Zalen."  
"Right behind you." Zalen calls out as they both head to the door. Before the could get to it, the door opens. Kuro and Daityas walk in with content looks on their faces from an earlier conversation. Everyone freezes again. "He didn't" Jaxon murmured.  
"He did." Michio replied.  
"Kuro, I thought we talked about this."  
Kuro doesn't respond. Instead he leads Daityas to the kitchen. "Come on, we have water bottles in here."  
As Daityas walks, he can't help but smirk at the stares he was getting. Also, he smirked because he could still feel the magic circle he left under the guild a while ago. As they enter the kitchen, Taya takes another sip of her tea, blinding her view of Daityas until she places her cup down. Daityas now sits right across from her as Kuro heads to the fridge. Taya's eyes widen. Her demeanor quickly changes to an angered one, but she quickly calms herself, because she remembered what Daityas told her about the guild. She leans a bit closer to Daityas to whisper. "What are you doing here!?"  
Daityas smirks as he begins to whisper as well. "What you mean? I was training Kuro and he invited me here to rehydrate is all. Calm down Tayakata."  
"Don't call me that. You're not allowed too."  
"The magic circle under the guild says differently. Which reminds me, you're running out of time. You should hurry up and join us again before this guild is burned in hells flames."  
Taya flares her nostrils in anger. "We both know that you're planning on destroying this guild no matter what."  
Daityas chuckled. "You're so wise Tayakata."  
"What did I just say?"  
"Hey Taya!" Kuro called out. "Where are the extra bottles of water?"  
Taya narrows her eyes at Daityas and then gets up from the table. The second she does so, Daityas stealth-fully pulls out a small tube of clear liquid. "Sorry Tayakata, you should at least be happy that I don't brutally murder you."  
(FlashBack)  
Maggie walks back into Tartaros with a tube in her hands. "Here." She flings it towards Daityas who fumbles but catches it. "And what if I would of dropped it!?"  
"Then you would of had to get someone else to go get the bloody poison that's what." Maggie retorted.  
Daityas exams the tube of clear liquid. "Are you sure this is it?"  
"Look man. I went to the wanker you told me to go to. Ask him for the poison that can't be cured. Spent all of Tobias' jewel."  
"...What?" Tobias immediately leaves the room to go check his stash of jewel.  
"And now here's your poison." Maggie crossed her arms. "All this is stupid anyways. You should just go kill them both, then revive them. Bam, Tartaros is while again."  
"It's not that simple Maggie." Daityas retorted. "I have plans for that Kuro kid. He seems strong, and I want him on the team. He can be turned. He'll owe me soon for getting stronger."  
"Him? He's too giddy! Who wants such a cheerful brat in the strongest Dark Guild?!" Everyone in the room looks at Sora who just smiles, and then back at Maggie. "Whoops.." Daityas lifts the clear liquid back up as he swirls it around. "I'll pick my time, and then, we'll be on our way, to running this world.  
(End Flashback)  
"You're almost home, Tayakata."  
In one motion, Daityas pops open the clear liquid, pours some of the contents into the tea and the swings his feet around and stands. All with no one seeing him pour the poison inside the cup. The clear liquid blends in perfectly with the tea. As he takes a few steps forward, Taya throws Daityas a water bottle. He catches it. "I think I'm gonna take this to go Kuro." He said.  
"Huh? Why?" Kuro asked. "Did someone say something?!" Kuro looked into the main hall to see everyone somewhat minding their own business.  
"Nah, I just hate long travels, just want to get it over with." Daityas replied. He gives a two finger salute to Kuro as he heads to the guild doors and walks out.  
"See ya next week Dait!" Kuro yells as he opens his bottle and behind drinking. As Daityas cleared the area, Taya turned to Kuro. "Kuro.." Not even giving her time to talk, the moment he heard Taya call his name, Kuro walks out the kitchen as Reve enters it. Now standing beside Taya.  
"He's getting bigger." Reve commented.  
"...Daityas was always a good sparring partner.." Taya averts her eyes to the ground and sighs quietly, until she hears a slurping sound from behind her. Takeru was gulping down her tea.  
"Takeru!" She shouted in anger.  
"I'm the White Shadow Dragon Slayer." He gulps it all down and lets out an "ah~"  
A dark vector then drags Takeru to the floor as five more begin to pummel him in an animated fashion.  
"Idiot."  
Reve looked around at the now silent guild. "Hey, who wants to go get some food? Lets head to Magnolia, they have the best eatery."

.

"Throw me another!" Natsu yelled at Elfman. Elfman picked up another boulder and lifted it over his shoulders. He then threw it into the air. "Man!"  
Natsu crouches, and then leaps into the air, with his fists encased in flames. He slams his fist into the boulder, breaking it in half. He then land back on the ground as he and Elfman exchange grins.  
Lucy was sitting with Evergreen and Wendy, watching the two train.  
"They keep improving." Wendy exclaimed with a smile on her face.  
"I know! This is exciting!" Lucy said. She smiled as Elfman launched another boulder in the air, Natsu jumping into the air and smashing it again with a hard kick.  
"Hmph.. Elfman could still use some work." Evergreen stated as she crossed her arms.  
"You would be concerned of Elfman~." Lucy said slyly.  
"What do you mean by that!?" Evergreen's face flushes red as she yelled at Lucy.  
"I think that's good for today Elfman." Said Natsu.  
"A man never stops!" Elfman raises a fist, but then his stomach starts go rumble. He holds his stomach as he gives an embarrassed laugh. "But a man knows when it's time to eat."  
"Ugh, pig!" Evergreen turned her nose up in disgust.  
Gray and Juvia were off to the right standing across from each other. Juvia was slinging water into the air as Gray was working on his aim, freezing them in the air. They too finish up as Gray wipes the sweat from his head. "Yeah, I could use some food too."  
"Juvia could use some Gray-Sama!"  
"...I don't even." Lucy stood up and dusted herself off. "Lets go into town and eat!"  
"Wait for us." Gajeel and Levy walk out of the guild. "Mirajane's making something weird. So we'll join you."  
"That's new." Natsu stated.  
"I won't make a habit of it Salamander."  
"Alright!" Levy claps her hands together. "Lets go eat!"

.

"Well!?" Maggie, Kiora, Ruika and Sora stood in front of Daityas, Mithril, and Tobias. Maggie tapped her foot impatiently. "You boys have been staring at that bloody vase all day! Lets hurry and use it."  
"We have to wait for Taya to-"  
"Whoa, whoa! Tobias!" Kiora interrupts. "Who, in the /hell/ was talking to you!?"  
"I swear I'm gonna!"  
Sora walks over to Mithril and tugged on his pant leg. The six foot seven inch man looked down. "What Sora?"  
Sora smiles and raises her hands to him, wanting to be picked up.  
"You're a bitch if you do it." Kiora said, antagonizing.  
"Pick her up, bitch." Maggie added.  
"Go ahead."  
"Do it!"  
"You can't deny that kid."  
"Will you both just-" As Mithril yells, Sora tugs again, looking innocent as ever. Mithril caved. He sighed and picked Sora up and placed her on his shoulders.  
"Haaaaa!" Maggie shouted out. "Weak!"  
"Mithril you're soft! Some dragon!" Kiora taunted.  
"Are you sure we can't eat our own mages Daityas?" Mithril asked.  
Daityas ignored everything that was going on. He merely stated at the vase, then at the clock. "Three days. The poison finishes it's victim in three days." Daityas talks in a near zombie like tone as he recites his plan again.  
"Kill Taya, revive Taya, have Taya lure Arc away from White Eclipse, kill Arc, revive Arc, recruit the gullible Kuro. All while this is going on, the lacrima is spreading. Slowly spreading. Slowly spreading."  
"Creepy." Ruika mumbles. "Even for Dait."  
"Call me that again and I'll slice open your head." He states without turning around. "Stupid ass name. I'm Daityas, the Hells flame demon slayer. Not Dait."  
"Rude." Ruika walks out the room swinging her keys as she whistles a high pitch tone, causing Mithril to wince from the sound.  
"Ugh. She does that on purpose."  
"That's your partner." Daityas commented.  
"Partner isn't the word."  
"You know who doesn't have a partner?" Kiora asked with a grin.  
"I swear to everything Kiora, don't say it." Tobias stated.  
"Tobias doesn't have a partner." Maggie said with a smug look.  
Tobias narrowed his eyes at Maggie.  
"What!? You told Kiora not to say it. So I did.  
Daityas begins talking aloud again. "The lacrima spreads all over Fiore. Giving Zeref all the magic he needs to destroy it with one move. Then we move to the next country. Until the world is a better place again. Actual threats, Fairy Tail. If Zeref thinks Natsu is a problem, then Natsu is a problem. I'll take care of him myself."  
"I hate when he gets like this." Maggie shuffles uneasily. "It's like he's possessed."  
"Well when Zeref speaks to you..." Tobias commented. "I'm sure weird things would happen to you as well."  
"Why are you here oh my god!" Kiora yells out as she tries to hide her smile from making Tobias' life miserable.  
"I hate you so much."

.

Arriving into Magnolia, was Reve, Taya, Takeru, Luke, Selene and Aira.  
Aira looked around the town, amazed at her first time as she marveled at the sights. "I want to see it all!"  
"It's just Magnolia Aira." Reve stated. "Just shops and eateries."  
It was too late, Aira grabbed Selene by the arm as she began pulling her to the closest shop. "Come on Selene! Shop with me!"  
Selene groans. "Why me!? Take Taya!"  
Aira waves back at the group as she pulled Selene along. "Save us a seat!"  
Takeru smiles a bit as he takes in the city view, actually enjoying his break away from all the training and jobs. His smirk fades as he shifts uncomfortably. He holds his stomach a bit as he makes a face.  
"Hm? Everything okay Takeru?" Luke asked  
"Yeah..I think." Takeru responded.  
"I hope it's from me tea you lil shit." Taya added.  
Reve laughs as he keeps walking. "I'm sure he just needs a meal in him."  
"Yeah.."  
The group walks into the restaurant and quickly get seated and order.  
"...I hear something." Reve narrowed his eyes.  
"I hear it too." Luke said, curling his lip.  
"It was only a matter of time." Taya stated.  
Reve and the other look to the door as Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Elfman,  
Evergreen, and Wendy walk into the restaurant. Everyone spots each other.  
"We've been avoiding each other since the treaty. Now comes the real test." Taya smirked at her statement as she crossed her arms and legs.  
"Why are they here!?" Natsu shouted.  
"To eat." Evergreen replied.  
"Out of all the places." Lucy looked over at Luke, who waved. She gave a small, uncomfortable wave back as everyone else continued to stare one another down.  
"Tch. A real man wouldn't stare so long." Elfman stated to Reve and Luke.  
"Heh. That explains why you're still staring at Fiore's strongest guild." Reve smirked.  
"That's a lie if I ever heard one." Gray responded.  
"Do I have to call Cygnus?" Luke said as he grinned at Gray.  
"What did you say!?"  
"You wanna go!?" Natsu shouted.  
"Natsu stop!" Wendy shouted.  
Reve stands as he pulls his chair out. "Fine by me!"  
"Reve sit down." Taya demanded.  
Reve and Natsu were near face to face until the sound of a chair being knocked over was heard.  
"Takeru!?"  
Everyone turns to Takeru, who was now on the ground on his knees, his face more pale than ever. He held his hand over his mouth as if he was about to vomit, which he did. Takeru threw up a spool of blood onto the floor as he held his stomach in dire pain. He then face plants right into it as he passes out.  
"Takeru!"


	26. Chapter 26

White Eclipse

Chapter 26

Aira and Selene were walking from shop to shop, buying whatever caught their eye. It was more Aira than Selene.  
"I'm gonna come here a lot more often." She exclaimed while holding up her bags of clothes and accessories.  
"That's nice and all, but what's with the fabric and thread?" Selene asked. "I didn't know you could sew?"  
"Hai! It's something I don't usually share, but I can."  
Selene gives a shrug. "So what are you gonna use them for? You bought so much." She holds up another bag, all full of thread and fabric.  
"That's a surprise!" Aira responded with a smile.  
"Whatever you say. Lets just go meet the others, I'm sure the food is ready by now."

Gajeel and Levy walked towards the restaurant. Levy held a bag behind her back as she walked beside the iron dragon slayer, who was walking with his arms crossed, chewing on a piece of iron.  
"You're gonna spoil your appetite." Levy protested as Gajeel continued to chew on the iron bar. He ignored the comment as they stopped at an intersection of passing carriages. "They better have got me what I ordered. That's all I'm worried about being spoiled."  
Levy huffs a bit, but then curves a small smile on her face as she looks around at the city scenery. "I really do love this place."  
Before she could take in the full enjoyment of the city. Gajeel scoffs as he spots two familiar faces. "Huh?" Levy looks up at Gajeel, and then across the street. Though this was her first time seeing them. She noticed the two White Eclipse mages standing on the other side of the intersection, also noticing the rival guild on the other side of the street.  
"Well if it isn't the tin man." Selene yelled out with a smirk. "How's those iron scales doing ya? I hope you've been training them, because last time it was diamonds or bust. "  
"Wait a minute." Levy looks at Selene, and then narrows her eyes at Gajeel. "That's the diamond dragon slayer? You told me that it was a guy, that was almost seven feet tall."  
Not taking his eyes off Selene and Aira, Gajeel's face dawns a guilty look. "Anyways! Why are you here?"  
"Shopping and food!" Aira shouted, holding up her bags.  
"Us too!" Levy shouted in return, holding up her single bag. Aira and Levy exchange waves as Gajeel and Selene stand there, giving their respective partner/friend a look. They both then turn back to each other frowning. As they stare each other down, their ears perk up from a Soren wailing in the distance. All four of them look down the street to the restaurant they were headed to when they saw an emergency carriage come into view, driving as fast as it possibly could. On the side holding on to the carriage was Reve. He spotted Selene and Aira as the carriage was approaching them and screamed out. "It's Takeru! Get to the hospit-" the carriage went by before he could finish his statement, but Selene and Aira heard loud and clear.  
On the other side of the Carraige, Natsu waved at Gajeel and Levy as they passed. "Oi! We're headed to the-!" The same thing happened, but they garnered the same result and knew where to head to.  
"Takeru!?" Selene stood in shock for a bit. Then looked at Gajeel, believing that someone from Fairy Tail had something to do with it. Aira grabs her arm to get her attention. "Now's not the time. I'll go get Zain just in case." Aira immediately runs off after her statement. Bags and everything. Selene begins sprinting down the street to catch up with the carriage.  
"Oi...I'm still hungry." Gajeel begins to walk towards the restaurant until Levy grabs him and drags him back the other way towards Magnolia hospital, Gajeel more or less letting himself be dragged because he knew it was the right thing to do, even though he didn't want to go. "You should be ashamed of yourself Gajeel."  
"Gihe!"

.  
Sitting in the waiting room, was all of Fairy Tail. They stayed because, no matter how much they "hated" White Eclipse, they would never wish anything bad on another person, so they all became concerned with Takeru's condition.  
Gray was sitting beside a brown haired girl. If Bacchus, Erza or Kagura were here, they could identify her easily. The brown haired girl sat in her chair, swinging her feet and humming a joyous tune. Gray, somewhat annoyed because of where they were, turns to the girl. "Why are you so happy?" He asked.  
The little girl just looks up at Gray and smiles. "Because my friend Arcy comes home soon! He's been gone so long and I'm just excited." Sora goes right back to humming and swinging her feet. Gray, taking her statement completely out of context, smiles, feeling happy for the little girl, thinking that her friend was here in the hospital and was going to be cleared soon. The rest of the guild that was at the restaurant stays quiet, until they heard shouting from outside the waiting room.  
"You idiots don't know anything!" Reve shouted. He shoved a security guard in the face, pushing him down as he headed back to the doctor while being held down by more security. "How do you not know what's wrong!? You're doctors you idiots!"  
"Reve calm down!" Taya yelled. But Reve wasn't having it. As security slowly but surely escorted Reve and White Eclipse out. Two nurses with their hats low enough to cover their eyes, slide into Takeru's room. The second they're in, the take off their hats, revealing to be Kiora and Maggie. "Daityas messed up." Maggie stated.  
"I know, Taya is fine! What the hell man!?" She whispered back, noticing that the sleeping Takeru wasn't too far from hearing distance.  
"How. In bloody hell! Do you poison the wrong person!" Maggie huffed out her words. "I mean, shit man, the wanker is a guy! Taya is a freakin girl!"  
"I say we riot."  
Maggie gives Kiora a look for her statement.  
"Okay no riot." Kiora said.  
"I worry about you sometimes Kiora."  
"We'll riot one day just watch."  
Out of the shadows, the brown haired Sora appears from the corner and runs to the bed, her hair turning back to her normal pink to get rid of her disguise. "Taya!" She runs over to the side of the bed with a huge smile, only to have it erased when she found Takeru laying there instead. "You're not Taya." Sora raised a shadow into a spike like formation and was about to jam it into Takeru's throat, but Kiora quickly grabs her. "Whoa kid! Whoa! Don't kill him like that he's already dying. Don't worry, there's gotta be a way to fix this."  
"From the poison that's untreatable? I don't think so." Maggie replied.  
"Okay Maggie, I get it. It's super poison damn be positive here please!"  
Kiora began pacing a bit. "Hold up..." Kiora stops walking and begins to smile as she raised her arms in an uncaring fashion. "/Why/ are we trying to fix Daityas mistake?"  
Maggie's eyes widen. "Oh. My. Zeref. This is Daityas fault. And /No one/ else's!"  
"We're in the clear!"  
"The bloke did it himself! There's no way we're in the wrong!"  
Maggie and Kiora link arms and skip around until they notice Sora staring at them with her finger pointed at Takeru. "Fix this! I want Taya and Arcy!"  
"Listen here lil shit you're not our boss." Before Kiora could say another word, Sora's eyes start to swell with tears.  
"Stop."  
"Bloody hell don't you do it Sora."

"Alright!" The two agree to Sora's whim right before she could start wailing, just to keep her quiet.  
"Welp." Maggie shrugged. "Might as well go tell the screw up the news."

"Sir, we're doing the best we can! You're gonna have to calm down." The security had pushed Reve into the waiting room, while the other mages stood in the hallway. Luke decides to head back into Takeru's room, along with Taya and Selene. "This is ridiculous. I don't understand how you don't know what's wrong it's your job!"  
"Sir, if we have to ask you again we'll kick you out the hospital. Now. Go sit down!"  
Reve snarls and turns his back to the security. He grabs a chair and flings it in one motion. The chair goes flying right next to Gray but he catches it. "Hey now!" Gray exclaimed. "You almost hit this.-" Before Gray could finish his sentence he looked beside him to see that Sora was no longer there. "Huh?"  
"Is everything alright Gray-Sama?" Juvia asked, now basically draping all over him.  
"Yeah Gray, you look like you've seen a ghost." Lucy added.  
"Gray's probably afraid of hospitals."  
Natsu said with a cheap smile. Gray narrows his eyes at Natsu.  
"Watch it flame brain."  
Reve stood in the middle of the waiting room floor tapping his foot.  
"You know, stressing yourself isn't going to help Reve." Lucy said. "Come sit down and relax."  
"Shut up." Reve's harsh tone really struck Lucy and the others. He didnt even add anything to his statement. He continued to stand there, tapping is foot.  
"Hey! She's just tryna-" Natsu was about to stand in mid sentence, but Lucy grabs his arm. He looks back at Lucy while Lucy stays looking at the floor. She just shakes her head, notifying Natsu not to say anything. He sits back down.  
"Tch." Gajeel scoffed. "Never met anyone as rude as that."  
"Oh really?" Everyone said in unison.  
"...okay assholes."  
Outside the hospital, Arc swoops down and lands on the ground, carrying Zain and Aira. All three walk through the door and past Reve. Reve sees them and immediately follows behind. "Sir, you can't just walk in without-" Arc pushes the security guard out the way and into the wall. The four continue making their way down the hall until they reach Takeru's room. Zain opens the door to see Luke, Selene and Taya already in.  
"Arc came too?" Taya questioned.  
Arc doesn't respond, but instead sniffs the air. He smells a familiar scent. "Hm.." He keeps his comment to himself, but he remembers the three girls' scents that he smells all too familiar. "What's wrong with Takeru?" Zain asked.  
"We don't know!" Selene cries out. "He's been vomiting blood a lot and he's pale."  
"He smells like he's dying." Arc replies.  
"Don't say that!" Selene yells back. Arc ignores her and begins taking off his bandages. Something that always worried Taya.  
"What are you doing?" She asked.  
"Seeing what's wrong with Takeru." Arc completely unwraps his bandages and opens his eyes. His demonic looking pupils now stare at Takeru. Chills go down spines everywhere just from the look of his eyes.  
"...Someone poisoned Takeru. It's no ordinary poison either. There's no cure for this."  
"How do you know!?" Zain questioned.  
"I know your skeptical, /Doc/ but my eyes don't lie to me. They do a lot more than kill. I can see the poison running through his veins. The question is, this poison just doesn't show up anywhere, it's created. So who or what did this to him?"  
Everyone falls quiet as they try to think of recent events. Taya's eyes widen as she perks up, remembering Daityas visit, and the tea. How she left it alone, and Takeru drunk it. Everything happened after that. She covered her mouth, not wanting to say anything due to the consequences of what would happen if she did.  
"Something wrong Taya?" Arcturus asked.  
"I.." Everyone turns to her, thinking she had the answer. "I'm just taking this all in. I need some air." Taya walks out the room, closing the door and slumps down to the floor, still covering her mouth. "Oh my god..that was supposed to be me.."  
Back in the room everyone stood around still, clueless on what to do. Selene grabs Takeru's hand, holding back tears.  
"Takeru...come on. I promise if you make it, you can have all the key lime pie you want. I won't make you try anything else. Whatever you want. Takeru wake up and be okay... Tak.."  
Luke stayed quiet he averted his eyes to the window, unable to look at Tak as he could visibly be seen withering away.  
"Tak man.." Zain sighed out... "I've really felt useless these past few weeks..first Taya and now.."  
Arc stared at Takeru for a long time. His eerie eyes never left the dragon slayer. After about five minutes. Arcturus chuckles, causing everyone to look at him. "Alright, I know how to save him."  
"Really!?" Selene pops up. "Tell us how!"  
"You don't have to do anything... but leave the room."


	27. Chapter 27

White Eclipse  
Chapter 27

(Flashback)  
"So you wanna know how to see in the dark huh?"  
Arc and Takeru stood across from each other in the training room. Takeru had just gotten back from the Silent Sanctum mission with the others. "Yeah." He replied as they stood in the pitch black training room. Takeru stood across the darkness demon, fearless. People claimed that Arc was unstable, yet here he was in the demon slayer's element, not that the powerful Arcturus needed it.  
"Alright, just know that the darkness isn't for everyone." Arc stated. "Ask Sidney, the dark is a scaring place."  
"I'm not afraid." Takeru replied.  
Arc laughed. "It's not about being afraid of the darkness Takeru, it's whether or not you'll be scarred from it or not. Things you'll never see anywhere else live in the dark. Things that only appear if you look too long in the dark. What I've seen cant be unseen, but that's because I lived in darkness, you won't see such things unless you could read my thoughts and memories, or if I was apart of you."  
"It's that why your eyes are bandaged."  
"Yeah, but that's because Tayakata is afraid I'll kill you all." Arc said this so casually, as if death was just another thing to him, yet Takeru stayed standing unphased. "Okay, so lets get started."  
(End Flashback)  
"You learned a lot more than how to see in the dark over those few days huh?" Arc said. "I hate sentimental shit, but to be honest, you're the reason everyone else actually started to accept me as a guild member and not a monster. You've had a good run kid... And so did I. But the thing is. You're just getting started. Me and Tayakata have been dodging death the day we left Tartaros. That's something you can't run away from forever." Arcturus' eyes begin to glow pure black as he stuck his left palm out towards Takeru. A black magic circle appears between them as the room shakes a little. "You don't get off so easy from this though. I'll be apart of you. So you'll have memories of the things that I've seen. Don't let them get to you, they're just demons." Arc grins sadistically at his last comment as a black aura begins to rise around him. The aura begins to slowly seep through the magic circle and literally into Takeru.  
Outside the room, a bit down the hall. Taya and the others stood around waiting. Taya has yet to gain control of herself as she kept thinking to herself how it was her fault.  
"Taya.." Luke called out. "Are you sure you're okay?" Taya shook her head, not turning back to the group. Reve walks up to her. "Hey, everything's gonna be okay."  
"How!? Takeru's in there dying and there's nothing...where's Arc?" Taya looked around a bit frantic.  
"That's what I'm tryna tell you." Reve said in a calm voice, the hallways start to tremor slightly. "Arc says he can fix him." Zain stated as he looked in the window with Selene who was squinting, trying to see what was going on.  
"No..." Taya knew exactly what Arc was doing. She runs to the door, causing Selene and Zain to move away. "What's wrong?" Aira asked. Taya opened the door to the room, only to have Arc push a strong but harmless darkness wave against her to hold her back.  
"Arcturus! Stop! We'll find another way!"  
Arc kept his eyes on Takeru as he felt himself wither away slowly. He was nearly done. Looking at both Takeru and Arc, it was as if they were switching places. Arc's skin became more pale than usual, while Takeru was gaining his color back along with his definition. The others run into view. "What's he doing!?" Luke shouted.  
"He's sacrificing himself." Selene said as she shook, now speechless at the sight.  
"What the hell!? Arc! Stop!" Reve calls out to Arc but the demon slayer doesn't listen. "Arc! I know you hear me!"  
Taya continuously pushed her way past Arc's darkness wave, since he was becoming weaker by the second. Arc knew it, but could only smirk, and hoped he finished in time.  
"Try not to use my magic before you actually learn it Tak. I don't care who you kill, but I'm sure the old man doesn't want you to go around killing others."  
As he finished his talk with the unresponsive Takeru, Arc turns his head to Taya as she pushed off to the side after making it in the room. She pants from the effort and then looks up at Arc. Arc gives her a small, genuine smile,  
Mouthing the words /Thank You./  
"Arc...!" Taya scrambles to her feet and lunges for him, but it was too late. Right there, Arc's body turns into grey dusts, dropping on the floor. Everyone else runs into the room as Taya was on the floor, on her knees, running her hand through the grey sand that used to be Arcturus. Tears run down her face as she begins to sob, trying her hardest to hold it in. The sand falls through her fingers, every grain, right back into the pile. Reve walks over to Taya and puts a hand on her shoulder. She immediately turns to Reve and hugs him, letting out her cries.  
Watching from the shadows, Kiora, Maggie and Sora can barely contain their excitement.  
"Oh my, GOD!" Maggie shouted. The shadows Sora created made their voices sound proof.  
"What a twist!" Kiora joined in. "The idiot sacrificed himself for some weak little mage! This is awesome!" Kiora and Maggie turned to each other smiling all giddy as Sora stood under them with a joyous look of her own.  
"Arcy is coming home!" Sora shouted.  
"Yeah he is!" Kiora exclaimed. "As punishment, we should make him pair up with Tobias.  
(Back at Tartaros)  
Tobias sneezes. "...I don't even wanna know."  
(Hospital)  
"Only thing that blows is that we can't really make fun of Daityas now, since he technically didn't mess up." Maggie stated.  
"Whatever girl we got what we came for now lets to tell the hot head what's up!" Kiora smiles from ear to ear as her and Maggie grab hands and dance around Sora. Sora laughs as her shadows consume the three of them, transporting them back to Tartaros.  
Time passes as everyone but Selene and Takeru were in the waiting room. After hearing the news, Fairy Tail gives White Eclipse their sympathies as they finally leave, walking out of the hospital and down the street of Magnolia.  
"It takes a man to do what Arc did." Elfman said.  
"Harsh.." Gray said in a low tone. "A guild mate dying before his time...I can't even imagine."  
"I thought I had this feeling when Lisanna disappeared," Elfman added. "But their guild mate is actually dead.. The sand proves it."  
Lucy couldn't help but shed a tear as she wraps her arm around Natsu's and leans into his shoulder. Natsu looks over at Lucy, but doesn't say anything as they continued walking. "I know days like this come." Gajeel said. "But to be honest." Levy also wraps her arms around Gajeel's as he speaks. "I wouldn't be me without you guys."  
Even Evergreen and Elfman, and Gray and Juvia inch together as they walk down the street. The death of a person they didn't even like had all of them feeling as if they lost their own. Wendy stayed in front of everyone as she kept her eyes down, kicking a lone pebble every time she neared it. "We really are lucky." She said.  
"What does Wendy mean?" Juvia asked.  
"We've had a lot of close calls. A lot. There were times when we weren't supposed to make it, but we did." Wendy looks up to the sky as she sighs. "That Arc guy dying today, really made me realize how much we take our luck for granted."  
"It's not luck Wendy." Natsu commented, cutting her off. "It's our friendship. We're a family. We wouldn't let anyone here get hurt. Not without the person who did it to get it back tenfold!"  
Before anyone could agree with Natsu, Wendy spoke again. "They loved Arc too. He wasn't just a mage to them. They may dislike us, but...it's not like they're evil. They're a family too. And yet...he's gone." Wendy's words cause everyone to go quiet as they all head back to the guild.

Back at the hospital. Takeru was awake, but he was still in bed. He had his face buried in his hands with Selene holding him. Selene had broken the news to Takeru, about how he saved Tak by sacrificing his own life. The waiting room was quiet as well as they all waited for Selene and Takeru. Reve stayed with Taya as she buried her face in his chest, still crying. The others stayed quiet in their seats, keeping their eyes glued to the ground.

.  
The next day, all of White Eclipse was outside the back of the guild. Everyone was dressed in black and gathered around an open grave. There was a mixture of crying and sobbing as Sidney walks up to the grave with a black urn in his hands. Inside, was the grey sand that was once Arcturus. The cries and sobs grow a bit louder as Sidney crouches down, and places the urn inside the grave. Jack then walks up to the grave as well, wiping his face of any tears, slides his foot forward, causing the grave to "cave in." He buries the urn under the dirt and snow. After a few minutes of silence, everyone pays their sorrows and respect for Arcturus and heads back inside. Everyone but Takeru an Kuro. Kuro stood a couple feet from the right of Tak. They both looked down at a grave, but the grave Kuro was now looking at, wasn't Arc's. Kuro sits down Indian style as he stared at the grave of his mentor, Mary.

[Flashback]  
Kuro runs out of an empty room and into the main room. "She's gone-"  
"Calm down kid, geez." Mary was seen sitting at the broken up bar next to Calium. She shuffles her hand through her blonde hair. It was still a mess since she has yet to do anything with it. As she dropped her hand, the back of it showed the White Eclipse symbol.  
"Sorry.." Kuro mumbled. "I thought you left again. What's that on your hand.?"  
"Hm?" Mary turns her hand around, already forgetting about the guild mark. "Oh yeah, Reve gave me this. It seems we're guild members now. You need to get yours too."  
"But...I didn't see anyone else with them."  
"I just did them all today!" Reve exclaimed as the others walk in, showing off their guild mark as well. It was a white crescent moon, over a black full one, with an original design of another black crescent moon to the left of the eclipse with three black dots behind that.  
Kuro smiles in excitement. "So we're apart of the family now!?" Calium and Mary couldn't help but smile a bit from Kuro's interpretation of family. "Not so fast." Reve said with a sly smirk. Kuro, along with everyone else, gives him a confused look.  
"Why not?" Kuro asked. "Because." Reve shifted his eyes around thinking. "First...since you're the newest member, you have to...go through the White Eclipse initiation! Yeah!"  
Kuro blinked. "And that is?"  
Outside, everyone but Kuro and Reve were on the ground while Kuro was on the roof edge. Kuro looks down at the others. "Ready!?" He yelled out.  
"On you, brat!" Mary yelled back.  
"Brat. I'll be calling you runts that from now on." Calium side noted.  
"Okay." Kuro takes a deep breath.  
"My name is Kuro Crane."  
"Kuro what!?" Mary's eyes widen as she screamed and flailed internally. "Did he just take my last name!?"  
Kuro continued. "I'm a fire make Mage. I became a mage, because I had no where to turn to, and when I was at my lowest, Mary took me in and gave me a home, and taught me her magic as well. I fight...well, I don't really fight, but if anyone were to hurt my family, I wouldn't hesitate to protect them. I joined White Eclipse, because once again, when at my lowest, they took me in and helped me find my mentor Mary. Now we're a family again, with an even bigger family. And like Reve wants, we'll be the strongest guild, because it's White Eclipse or... IT'S WHITE ECLIPSE OR SECOND PLACE!"  
"I like it!" Jack yelled from the bottom.  
Sidney nods while Zalen claps his hands and laughs.  
"Welcome to White Eclipse!" Reve yells as he pushes Kuro off the roof and into the snow. He lands back first and looks up to the sky with a dizzy smile. Mary leans over and laughs, then extends a hand. "Heh. Get up kid and lets find some grub."  
[End FlashBack.]  
Kuro gives a small smile as he continues to look on at Mary's grave. A single tear rolls down as he turns to Takeru who was still staring at Arc's grave. Kuro stands up and walks over, now standing next to Tak as he places his hand on his shoulder. The two mages who's lost someone so close, stand outside for nearly the remainder of the day.

.

The months continue to fly by as the guilds continue their lives. Fairy Tail and White Eclipse continued their treaty of staying away from each other, until finally..  
Right in the plains, smack dab in between White Eclipse and Fairy Tail, every member of both guilds stand across from each other. Reve and Erza meet in the middle with their guild mates behind them. Though he was out of smelling distance, Natsu and Gajeel couldn't help but stare Adamantine down, almost instinctively. Gray and Cygnus exchange glares, except Cygnus smirks. Reve and Erza take another step forward. Reve rolls his sleeves up to his forearm and then slides his hands in his pockets. Erza simply folds her arms. "Reve Volver."  
"Titania."  
Erza smirks. "I see nothing's changed with your quick wit. You can't even address me formally."  
"Yeah I save those for those I respect."  
Erza sighs a bit but continues to smirk. "So we all know why we're here."  
"The Grand Magic Games are tomorrow! White Eclipse or second place!" Cygnus shouted. The entire White Eclipse guild cheers behind Reve as he smirks in pride of his guild.  
"More like White Eclipse is second place." Laxus retaliated. "We all know it's Fairy Tail for the repeat." Fairy Tail begins cheering as well until Reve and Erza both calm their guilds down.  
"It seems we have such spirited guild mates." Reve says.  
"That's nothing new to Fairy Tail." Erza replied. "Not that you're going to share such information, but any idea on your starting five? You know ours, from both teams. Besides Mystogan, we haven't changed our roster at all."  
Reve chuckles a bit. "Now now Erza, what's the fun of giving that away?" You'll see both our teams when they call out the first and second place teams after preliminaries."  
"So they're going with two teams as well huh?" Gajeel questioned. He smirks over at Selene. Selene catches his stare and grins back. "All the better chance to take her out."  
Reve runs his hands through his hair. "But as promised, the treaty isn't /completely/ over so.." Reve extends a hand to Erza. "On behalf of White Eclipse. We wish you losers good luck on your race to second place. I hear Sabertooth and Quatro Cerberus has really stepped it up this year."  
Erza can't help but smirk. She shakes his hand. "Yeah yeah, we'll see you tomorrow."  
Luke then walks up to Laxus Dreyar. He then extends a hand to him. "Laxus Dreyar. I can't wait to see you in action. Honestly, I'm a big fan. Will you shake my hand? It'd be a great honor."  
Laxus curls his lip, but in good sportsmanship, he extends a hand and shakes Luke's. a small magic circle discreetly appears. Only White Eclipse notices it. A few of them snicker, which catches Natsu's attention, but he's still at a lost.  
Luke then moves to Gray. "Gray, you too. Just because I like your magic and how you use it." Luke extends his hand again. Gray smirks from the complement and shakes his hand. "Sure kid, anything for a fan." The same thing happens as a magic circle appears. This time, even Reve looks over and smirks. It finally clicked from back when Luke pushed Natsu, and copied his magic when they first met. Luke had made his way over to Mirajane and was reaching for her hand until Natsu yelled out. "Wait! Don't shake his hand!" Natsu pulled Mirajane away from Luke as White Eclipse bursted out laughing.  
"So close Luke." Reve let out while laughing.  
"That's okay. I have the lightning dragon slayer and ice make Mage abilities now." Luke laughed as he walked over to his guild.  
"What!?" Laxus looked on in shock and confusion.  
"You didn't!" Gray was infuriated, clenching his fist in anger.  
"He's a copy Mage... He copies your abilities when he touches you! Oh no how did I just remember!" Lucy yelled out.  
"See you clowns around!" Reve waves back as the entire guild walks off laughing. Fairy Tail stands there for a bit. Laxus' electricity begins to spark around him as he stares at the leaving mages.  
"I'm going to wreck that kid. I swear it."

.

All while White Eclipse was out, five mages were spotted in the back of the guild. Maggie, Ruika, Kiora, Sora, and Daityas. Daityas walked over to Arcturus grave. "Ohhhhh here we go!" Kiora yelled.  
"This is gonna be a bloody good time!" Maggie responded.  
"Lets go lets go lets go!" Sora jumped up and down overly excited.  
Crossing her arms. Ruika closed her eyes as she waited. "We've waited months for them to clear out. Lets do this now before they come back."  
Orion pops out of his gate but before he could say anything to Ruika, she slams a fist against his head and forces a gate closure. "You will /not/ ruin this moment."  
Daityas places the vase down on top of Arcturus grave. The magic circles on the grave begin spinning clockwise.  
Kiora raises her hands in the air. "Arise darkness Demon slayer! Come back from the grave you lay in! For we are the ones who now command thee! The ones who-"  
"Kiora what are you doing?" Daityas turned and asked, looking at her as if she's lost her mind.  
"Sorry...I just wanted to add dramatic effect."  
Maggie begins laughing as the vase begins to shake. Just then, a giant beam of darkness shoots from the vase and into the sky. The grey sand appears and floats above the vase. The sand begins to swirl around as it forms a body.  
Sora's eyes widen as Arcturus completely forms and steps from the darkness. The vase then stops and sits there. Everyone stands, waiting to see if he was on their side again, or if he was just merely revived. Arc stares at everyone, not moving as well, until Sora jumps on his back, wrapping her hands around his neck. "Arcy!" She snuggled into the back of his neck! With a smile. "Sora...?" Arc looks back at her and then at Daityas. "What are we doing here?"  
Daityas grins as Kiora and Maggie dance in the back. "We're going home Arcturus. We're going home."


	28. Chapter 28

White Eclipse  
Chapter 28

Today was the day, it was check in day for the Grand Magic Games. The guilds were up before the sun getting ready.

"Today's the day." Lyon Vastia stood outside of Lamia Scale. He was already ready to go. He stood with his arms crossed as the wind blew his hair eastward. "Last time we were in the lower ranks, but with the training we've been through this past year, there's no way they'll ever disgrace the name Lamia Scale."  
"Lyon-Dono." Jura, one of the ten wizard saints, and S class mage of Lamia Scale, walks out and beside Lyon. "Are you ready?"  
"I was ready since a year ago Jura." Lyon smirked. "I'm coming for you Gray."

"Wild!" Bacchus yells out while standing in the main room in Quatro Cerberus.  
"Four!" The entire guild yells back  
"WIld!"  
"FOur!"  
"WILd!"  
"FOUr!"  
"WILD!"  
"FOUR!"  
Arguably the most male bravado-esque guild was up and hyped. A lot of pushing, shoving and head butting was going on to get each other excited. Bacchus stood in the middle of it all, jumping around and shoving guild members as he let out his signature laugh. In his left hand he held his gourd. He would stop occasionally to drink from it, the alcohol only causing him to get more and more "wild."  
Goldmine walks out with his arms crossed as he looks at his guild that was currently causing a frenzy. He stood with a smirk on his face.  
"They're more rambunctious than last year. They're ready. And with a determined Bacchus leading us, we have a great shot this year."  
"Old man! What you standing around for!?" Bacchus yelled out to GoldMine. "Let me here you one time!"  
Goldmine chuckled a bit, but with his arms crossed, he rears his head back and screams out. "WILD!" Louder than anyone as ever screamed the word. The entire guild of Quatro Cerberus then follows up in one big unified roar.  
"FOUR!"

Over at Mermaid Heel. Kagura places her sword on her hip. She then sits outside as the other girls get ready, Millianna walks outside and crouches next to Kagura. With Jellal no longer an issue for them, they both turn to each other and nod with a smirk. Without even talking, they knew that they could all now focus on a new goal. Becoming number one in Fiore.

Sting throws on his sleeveless jacket. Rogue throws on his black cape, tying the string at the front. Frosch and Lector stood at the door watching then get ready. In the other room, Yukino fixed the last few strands on her hair and then rolled her suitcase out to the hall. She held up her keys and smiled. "I hope I go against Lucy this year." She thought to herself. Orga was in his room. He had a hair brush in his hands as he did his rockstar style air guitar, singing into the brush. "Laxus is going down! Sabertooth is number one!" He sung this over and over as Rufus was spotted looking at his room, memorizing everything to be exactly where he left it. With his hat in his hand, he flips it over, and puts it on his head. "I remember it all. Ice make infinite. Not this time, Gray Fullbuster."  
"Natsu."  
"Gajeel."  
"We're ready this time." The twin dragons said in unison as all of Sabertooth now stood side by side.

"Ah~ the parfum of competition is upon us!" Ichiya stated. He spun into a pose. Ren, Eve, and Hibiki follow in the back ground all talking in unison. "Hai sensei!"  
"We have the best Parfum!" *pose*  
"Hai!"  
"Our parfum is the strongest!" *pose*  
"Hai-Hai!"  
"We will win the Games with our parfum!"  
"HAI SENSEI!"  
Jenny stood watching with a smile as the rest of Blue Pegasus went through their routine. But inside Jenny she was internally scheming, plotting. The only thing on her mind was.  
"Mirajane."

In the snowy mountains, they prepared.  
"Suit up!" Reve called out as he slip on his new white jacket. On the back of the jacket, was the White Eclipse symbol.  
"Thanks again for the uniforms by the way Aira."  
"Hai!" She smiled as she appeared in her long sleeve white shirt, and black pants.  
Selene and Kairi also wore the same thing, with their own modifications, the eclipse mark on the back as well.  
"I can't believe I made the B team." Kairi smiled as she thought to herself. She stood with her team as she readjusted her gloves. She was at the end right and beside her on, was Luke, Selene, Cygnus, and Aira.  
"I like this team." Aira stated.  
"Don't forget, we get to alternate who we please as well." Luke said. He then turns his attention back to Nami and Taya, who held their uniforms in a bag instead of wearing it. "You sure you two would rather be alternates?"  
Nami nodded and smiled. "I didn't train as hard as the others. If you need me to fill in for injury, I'll do so. Until then I'm a cheerleader!"  
"What she said. Except with the cheerleader part." Taya added. "But good luck to you all, until I'm needed of course."  
Standing across from them, was the muscle. The first team formed for the guild. The ones who everyone was leaning on to bring home first place. Reve, Jack, Takeru, Kuro... And  
Adamantine.  
With their matching jackets that Aira made, they stand with supreme confidence, almost posing. Waiston and Zalen walk up to them.  
"We're ready when you need us." Zalen stated. Reve smiles at his best friend as the give each other a fist bump. He then does the same to Waiston as they smile. A door to the back room opens a man with grayish-black hair walks out and into the main room. It was master Calium. His white robe reached down to his feet, covering whatever he had underneath.  
"Look at my brats. All grown up and ready to represent White Eclipse the right way this time. You two will get along this time right?"  
Reve and Takeru smirk at each other and nod. "We're all good to go old man."  
Calium smiles. "I just want to say. That I'm proud of you all over this past year. I always said that my duty as guild master was to not pick a path for you, but for you to pick a path and I would help you through it. When you all agreed that you actually wanted to be number one in Fiore, I honestly didn't take you serious at first. But then you all busted your butts, going on job after job. You even gave Fairy Tail a scare. Most importantly, the magic council even called on you all to do a dark guild mission. Now it's your time White Eclipse. It's your time to officially, reach for number one in Fiore!"  
The guild raises a fist as they let out a cheer.  
"White Eclipse!"  
"OR SECOND PLACE!"

Natsu walked beside Lucy as they entered the guild. All ready in uniform, they walked in and stood beside Erza, Gray and Wendy. Without an exchange of words they all look at each other and nod. It was time to defend the title. They knew what was at stake, yet the rush of excitement of defending their title was enough for them to keep smiles and smirks of excitement.  
Across from them, was Mirajane,Laxus,Gajeel,Juvia, and Cana. They all smirked at each other, and then the A team, who did the same. Between them, Makarov walks in the middle. He gives a nod to both sides before he opens his mouth to speak, but before he could.  
"Everyone ready?"  
The entire guild was caught off guard. They turn to see a long blonde haired girl standing on a table.  
"MASTER MAVIS!?" The entire guild shouted in disbelief.  
She smiles. "Hi."  
"You're here!?" Makarov asked the obvious from being in so much shock.  
"Why wouldn't I be? This is my favorite part of the year. Don't worry, I'm just watching again. These are your kids Makarov."  
Natsu walks up to Mavis and smiles while clenching a fist. "We're gonna win this one again first master!"  
She smiles and nods. "I know you will. No one is better then you guys. I can't wait to see you all in action."  
"Are we all ready?" Erza asked.  
Gajeel nods and smirks. "Gihe. I've been waiting for this." "All of Gajeel's training is about to pay off." Pantherlily stated. "Juvia is ready!" She exclaimed. "But I'd rather be on Gray-Sama's team." She said internally.  
Cana held a barrel under her arm and grins cheekily. "Yeah, lets do this."  
"They have beer in Crocus, Cana." Laxus commented.  
"Screw that expensive watered down beer. I'm bringing my own!"  
Mirajane simply smiles. "Hai, I'll do a lot better this year. Only thing I did was fight Jenny. I'll contribute more."  
Gray smirks. "Lets do this."  
Erza nods. "There will be plenty of strong willed mages. Lets not give them the chance to think they have one against us."  
"Hai!" Wendy shouted.  
"This year will be different for me!" Lucy shouted. "I've trained so hard! It's time to show everyone what we're made of again!"  
"I'm proud of you Lucy. You actually trained without Salamander sometime last year." Gajeel smirked.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy narrowed her eyes at Gajeel who was stifling a snicker.  
"Aye! Lets do this! I'm all fired up!"  
"Aye sir!"

.  
A short time skip later. Everyone arrives in Crocus around nearly the same time. The city was buzzing. People crowded the streets, stands crowded the sidewalks. It was bigger than any festival. This is what people came to Crocus for. On a news stand was the latest issue of Sorcière Weekly. On the cover was Erza, Reve, Bacchus, Ichiya, Jura and Kagura, all staring each other down with competitive looks. A hooded man, who was walking with a hooded girl, picks up the magazine and pays for it. He flips through it to Quatro Cerberus article since this issue was entirely about the games. On the beginning page was Bacchus in the middle, Blues to his left, a white haired mage to his right and Yaeger and Rocker behind them. The first sentence of the article read- {Yhe wild boys are back! With two new recruits, Quatro Cerebrus are out to prove that they are puppies no more.}  
The page flips as Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel appear with their same teams as last year and with their own highlighted sentence. The same with Blue Pegasus.  
The page turns to Sabertooth. Sting and Rogue stood side by side as Orga stood behind them with Yukino on his shoulders. Rufus was sitting in a chair in front of them all. Their article sentenc read- {With a new guild master and Minerva no longer in the guild, is Sabertooth still as dominating as before!?}  
A page flip later, White eclipse was shown. The A team stood, with Reve in front. His hands were in his pockets as he stood cooly, smirking. Beside him, Kuro was in a smile and wave pose, his other hand on Reve's shoulder; really capturing his innocence. On the other side of Reve was Jack, he was in the midst of leaning backwards while facing Reve, except his head was tilted to the sky as he was downing a bottle of wine. He gave the peace sign to the camera with his free hand. Takeru stood there a little bit in front of Kuro but to the left a little more. He stood with his arms crossed as he he gave an emotionless glare. And behind them all, hunched down a bit, was Adamantine. He gave a smile that looked like a hungry beast. His fangs showing in the picture.  
On the opposite page, Luke stood in front of a mirror, representing his magic. He smirked while holding his arms out in mid shrug. On top of the mirror sitting with angel wings out but tucked in, was Kairi. She had her legs crossed as she gave a small smile. Selene stood to the right of Luke. She was in the midst of running diamonds through her hand as she grinned as well. Cygnus stood upside down, yet on the ceiling of the page. His head was right next to Kairi's. and finally, floating on a visible gust of wind, yet under everyone was Aira. She leaned back while sitting indian style and gave a wave with a smile. White Eclipse's article read- {Everyone's Wild Card! White Eclipse has gained tons of attention over the year out of nowhere. Will they show that they're legit!? Or will it all have just been talk and luck!?"  
Finally, as the final page flips. The defending champs were shown, taking up both pages. Erza stood in the middle of team A. She stood with a sword over her shoulders as Natsu and Gray stood beside her both with a fist full of ice or fire. Lucy was beside Natsu with her elbow on his shoulder as she leaned on him. Her other arm was out as she dangled her keys off one finger. Beside Gray was Wendy giving a smile and wave, her waving hand had her sky magic swirling around it. On the second page, Laxus stood in front with lightning sparking around him. To his back left, Gajeel stood looking out as his arm was an iron pole. On the other side of Laxus was Mirajane, standing normally with a smile and wave, except a black ball of magic was floating in her other palm. Sitting to the front left and right of Laxus was Cana and Juvia. Cana was sitting on her barrel of beer as she held her cards as if she was shuffling. In that same hand, down her forearm, was the fairy glitter symbol. Juvia was sitting on a small stand of water she created with a serious smile.  
Their article read-{The defending champs and the favorites for this year as well! Will the famous Fairy Tail come out on top again!? Keep your index finger up and your thumb out to find out!}  
"Think they'll win again?" The woman asked.  
The hooded man smirked as they began reaching the outskirts of Crocus. "I do, Meredy. And we'll watch and see them win it all."

Makarov turns to his guild as the crowd the streets. "Once again, I'll go check us in. You all have your room keys? Then do what you will, just be ready for tonight. We don't want a repeat of last time."  
"Hai!" Mavis yelled out as if she was participating herself.  
"I know what I'm about to do!" Natsu yelled. "Come on Happy lets go eat!"  
"Aye sir!" Happy flies off with the running Natsu.  
"I'm tired actually. I'm going to retire to my room." Lucy said as she stretches her arms and begins walking to her room. Erza turns back to the others as Laxus Freed Evergreen and Bickslow already begin walking off. "Like master said,  
do whatever. Just be ready when the time comes."

"Takeru where are you going?" Selene asked as he began walking away.  
"I haven't had pie since the trip." He replied.  
"You ate them all on the way here!"  
"Alright runts settle down." Calium stood in front of White Eclipse. "I'm going to check you all in. Don't get too lost in the city. I'm sure once registrations are closed they'll be tempted to start at any moment. So be on your toes like last time."  
Calium walks off as Reve now stands in front. "Welp, you heard him. I can't enjoy the first day. So I'm headed to the room. I hope you all got your keys.  
"Got mine!" Skye called out.  
"Same." Zain replied.  
Everyone else just raises their room key as the guild disperses in different directions.

Later that night, outside of Crocus. Meredy stood under a tree waiting. Then, the hooded man walks up to her, taking off his hood.  
"Jellal. Not that I don't mind. But..are we here for any reason besides to watch The Grand Magic Games?"  
Jellal smiles at Meredy. "Nope. You've been working so hard Meredy. It's time for you and I to take a week off, and enjoy some entertainment." Meredy gives a small smile.  
"Besides." Jellal continued. "With the council somewhat off my back, now I get to enjoy this too. Without having to worry about being arrested."  
"Right." Meredy nods. She smiles again as she looks back at Crocus. Just then, Jellals eyes perk up as a bunch of Shadow lances come firing towards him and Meredy. "Look out!" Jellal pushes her out the way as the both hit the ground.  
"Who was that!?" Meredy yelled as she stood back up, readying herself.  
"I don't know, I-" before Jellal could finish his sentence, a lava whip wraps around his neck as he begins to choke. The heated lava whip began to burn him as Maggie stood behind him holding the whip, she begins to swing Jellal around in mid air. "M-meteor!" A golden aura forms around Jellal. He then takes off at a full speed. The aura causes the lava whip to loosen as he escapes Maggie's grasp. He makes a U turn and charges for her, until a hand snags him out the air by his ankle. Daityas then hurls him into a tree back first as he hits the ground. Meredy was staring down Maggie. Maggie then points to behind Meredy with a grin as Tobias stood behind her. Meredy quickly swings a back elbow, but Tobias blocks it a slams a hard jab to her gut. Meredy hunches over and Tobias quickly slams a knee to her forehead, causing her head to snap back. Dizzy, Meredy places a palm on Tobias's chest, but he simply grabs her wrist and leg sweeps her, then swings her around and throws her. He causes her to go sliding off to the right. Her new position had her back to the forest, Tobias and Maggie in front of her. "Heh." They both cock a brow as Meredy stands back up. "Do your worse. It's only gonna hurt the guy too." "Hm?" Tobias looked at his chest, showing a sensory link on it.  
"You can leave us now, or you can sacrifice your friend just to get a shot at me." Meredy stated.  
"A sensory link huh? Thats not a- No!" Tobias yelled. Maggie began to smirk slowly. "No stop! Don't do it! Kiora I swear to god!"  
Meredy gave a confused look at Tobias freaking out, but her eyes go white immediately aftter, as a fist slams into her jaw. Meredy falls over face down into the ground.  
"OHHHH! GUESS WHAT SHE DID!" Maggie yelled out.  
"I KNOW WHAT SHE DID!" Kiora yelled back, jumping around Meredy with Maggie.  
They both scream out in unison. "SHE ATE THAT!"  
"Kiora said knock you it!" She laughed as Maggie stood over Meredy, her foot on her head.  
"HOLY! KIORA WHAT THE HELL!?" Tobias was on his knees as he held his jaw in immense pain. "What's wrong with you Tobias?" Kiora asked, as if she didn't hear Meredy when she was explaining the sensory link.  
"You heard her loud and clear! She had a sensory on me! And you hit the shit out of her!" Tobias's jaw writhes in pain.  
"Oh...whoops." Kiora starts laughing. Maggie joins in.  
Over in the woods while this happened. Jellal landed on his back from crashing into the tree. Before he could get up, Daityas slams a boot into Jellal's chest, causing him to cough up in pain.  
"W-who are you..!?" Jellal strained out.  
"You know exactly who we are Jellal." Daityas smirked. "We're the one guild you're afraid of."  
Jellal's eyes widened as he stayed pinned by Daityas foot. The mage was so strong that Jellal couldn't even muster up the strength to push him off. "You're.."  
"Say it!" Daityas demanded.  
"I won't speak your name! Your actions are bad enough to the point you don't deserve a title."  
"How noble." Daityas laughed.  
"If you're gonna kill me. Then do your worse, but let Meredy go."  
"Actually Jellal. We need something from you first. "  
Jellal raised a brow as he winces again. "And what is that?!"  
"Not much." Daityas grinned as he leaned towards Jellal. He taps Jellal's temple twice. "We just need that thought projection of yours. That's right..

We want Siegrian."


	29. Chapter 29

White Eclipse  
Chapter 29

11:55 pm. The night of registration, one hundred and thirty guilds entered. And just like last year, an elimination round was "secretly" in the mix. Everyone from every guild was out on their inn's balcony, waiting patiently for midnight, just like last year. Everyone except...  
"We're so lost!" Aira cried out as she slumped over upset. "We've been walking for the entire day, how do we not know where the inn is!"  
Luke stayed quiet. He knew what was at stake if they didn't get to their inn in time before midnight. They would fall behind on whatever the elimination round would be.  
"Leave it to Cygnus to go hunting for meatball subs." Selene huffed.  
"Hey! It's not my fault no one here knows how to make them right!" Cygnus yelled back.  
Luke looked up at a random street clock as they continued walking. "11:58..." He began to prepare himself for the panic he's about to cause. "It's important that we find the inn in the next two minutes." "Why's that?" Kairi asked.  
"If it's anything like last year's, which I'm sure it is because of all the guild's that entered...then the elimination round will start at midnight."  
"WHAT!?" Aira yelled out. "What, why didn't you say anything!?"  
"Because we don't need a panic like you're doing now!" Luke replied.  
"Okay, lets relax it's only...11:59!"  
Cygnus exclaimed. "Master and Sidney are gonna kill us!"  
"No they're not, because we're gonna make it. Even if we come in eighth. We'll make it. No matter what it takes. We'll take out anyone in our way. Last year, Fairy Tail attacked everyone in their way. Well that's our strategy this year. It's not about speed this time. It's about bullying." A smirk and look of determination comes over everyone's face as Luke finishes his pep talk. They all stand in the middle of the street as the clock was seconds away from striking midnight.

"Reve!" Kuro Bursts in the room to see Reve and the others on the balcony. Reve turns to Kuro with a raised brow. "What's wrong Kuro? Don't tell me your nervous."  
"The others! They aren't in their room! Or the inn!"  
Reve and the others's eyes widen.  
"What!? Where's Selene and the others?" Takeru asked.  
"I don't know! They're supposed to be next door!"  
"Tch, dammit!" Adamantine scoffed. "I can go sniff them out."  
"No time!" Reve growled as he requipped a flare gun into his hand. The moment he does this, the clock strikes midnight.  
"Too late." Jack stated.  
In the air with spotlights pointing at him, was the host. The pumpkin headed man shuffled his feet as he laughed.  
"It's that time again! With one hundred and thirty guilds registered, it's time to start the elimination round."  
"Shit!" Cygnus and the others look up, as they were directly under the image of the host.  
"Now, last year we created the labyrinth. Every guild went in, and only eight advanced. This year, it's a straight race to the arena."  
"That's it!?" Reve exclaimed. "Sabertooth is the closest that's not fair!"  
"Yes a straight shot." The host continued. "Except there's one catch!" As he finishes that sentence, a green floating light appears on the balcony of each participating guild. "You have to follow the lead of the lacrima sprite, as a team. You have to follow it's exact path. Don't worry about speed, the sprite will always move just a bit faster than you are. Though you will run into other guilds, no sprite will float in the exact same direction, but the distance covered will be the exact same. Five miles on foot."  
"Five miles?" Natsu questioned. His team stood in front of the lacrima sprite, waiting for the signal to go.  
Lucy hunched over and sighed. "A five mile run..Whyy?"  
"Everyone get ready." Erza stated. She looked over to see Laxus and the others on their balcony as well.  
"Here we go again." Lyon said, standing next to Jura and the others.  
"You ladies ready?" Kagura asked.  
"Ready!" They all shouted.  
"Rogue." Sting called out. Rogue nods as they stood in front of Orga Yukino and Rufus.  
"Good luck you guys! Though with my teachings you won't need it!" A blue haired mage waved. Sting chuckles. "Thanks, /master/."  
"The parfum of competition is now at it's strongest! Men!" Ichiya spins into a pose as the team stands behind him in a pose as well.  
"Lets get Wild!"  
"Four!"

The host looks around. "This will be an interesting race. Now that we have everyone who isn't participating ushered off the streets...GO!"  
The host disappears as everyone but White Eclipse B's sprite takes off.  
Reve aims his flare gun in the air and fires, hoping that team B would see the flare. "We can only pray for those idiots now." Reve and the rest of Team A jump down as the y sprint off with the sprite. Takeru looks up at the B team's sprite as they run off. "Come on Selene."  
"The elimination round has started!" Aira yelled in a frenzy.  
"Crap!" Cygnus looked around for any incoming opposing guilds.  
"Remember don't panic!" Luke exclaimed. "Just remember the plan and-"  
"Look!" Selene yelled as she pointed to the sky. They all look as a flare goes off in the distance.  
"That's Reve's!" Kairi shouted.  
"It is! That must be where the inns are! Lets go!" Luke immediately takes off running as the others follow close behind.

Erza lead the sprint as the rest of Fairy Tail A followed right beside her. Their sprite lead them through every turn and even a few back alleys.  
"How many turns is this thing gonna take!?" Gray yelled out.  
"The host stated that it'll accumulate five miles before making it to the stadium."  
"I hope we're making good time." Lucy said as she and Wendy held back in the rear.  
They all turn another corner as the sprite leads the way, but the second Natsu, who was the third one in the group, was to turn the corner.. "Roar, of the Aquatic Dragon!" Blues fires a funnel of raging water that slams right into Natsu. The roar throws him back, away from the group as he slams into a building a good ways away from the team.  
"Natsu!" Lucy calls out. At this time, Quatro Cerberus goes running past Fairy Tail as their own sprite led then around the city. "Nice shot Blues!" Yaegar yelled out. Bacchus smiles at Fairy Tail as the two run by each other. Erza and the others were still running, yet they were looking back at Natsu the whole time.  
"Keep going, Flame brain will catch up!" Gray shouted. But as he turned back around, he saw that the sprite had disappeared. "Guys!"  
"What! Where'd the sprite go!?" Lucy began to look around frantically.  
"Look!" Wendy pointed to Natsu as he made his way out of the rubble. The sprite was hovering over Natsu.  
"I get it." Erza came to a stop as everyone else did the same. "We became separated. So the sprite went to the one whose off track. Natsu! Get over here!"  
"Ugh! I'm gonna kick that guys ass!" Natsu gets up and rubs his head, actually contemplating chasing after Blues and Quatro Cerberus, but instead he and the sprite make it back towards the group. "It's understood we have to stay close to each other now." Erza stated. "If we get too far away from each other, the sprite stops as well."  
"Well lets use that to our advantage!" Natsu grins as he lights both of his fists on fire. "Lets send some mages flying!"

"Heh, that'll hold them off for a bit!" Bacchus laughs as Quatro Cerberus keeps running down the street. They take a left a run down a straightaway. As they get to the middle of the street, a snowstorm appears, blinding them from their sprite. Bacchus and the others immediately stop. "What!?" Bacchus looks around as he looks for the sprite they were following. "Can anyone see!?"  
"Good job Eve! Excellent parfum!" Ichiya and Blue Pegasus run past Quatro Cerberus as they smirked.  
"Not a problem!" Eve yelled as they kept running, following their sprite.  
"Shit! Hey do something about this blizzard!" Bacchus yelled at the white haired mage.  
"I'm on it." The white haired Mage took a few steps back as he inhaled. He then turns in the direction that Blue Pegasus was running. "Water God's bellow!" He then blows out a giant ball of black water that consumes the snow storm, and heads for Blue Pegasus. It comes roaring in and the second Eve turns around, the bellow slams into Blue Pegasus, causing them to go tumbling into the ground.  
"Wh-what was that?!" Jenny cried out as she struggled to her feet.  
"Wild! Good shot Kuro!" Bacchus yelled.  
"Kuro the water god slayer alright." Blues said. "Lets keep moving!" Rocker yelled out. Quatro Cerberus takes off again, following their sprite.

"Keep up!" Kagura yells back at the girls as she was leading the pack at a fast pace.  
"Don't underestimate a chubby girl!" Risley called out as she brought up the rear.  
"I'm feeling Spiffy!" Millianna yelled as she was right behind Kagura.  
"Good! Keep it moving, and watch out for other guilds!" Kagura continued to lead the charge.

"Ice make: Eagle!" Lyon launches four ice eagles ahead as Lamia scale, prepares to run right into Sabertooth.  
"I remember perfectly. Memory make!" Rufus fires off the exact same eagles, causing them to collide. Orga then fires off a stream of black lightning at Lamia Scale. Jura flips up two fingers, causing a wall of earth to catch the lightning. The rock wall doesn't go down though.  
"Jura, move the wall so we can keep going!" Lyon called out.  
"I'm trying Lyon-Dono!"  
"What's going on Jura-San?" Chelia asked. Just then, another sprite passes by Lamia scale, then a rock wall sprouts up behind then, closing up all around them. "Don't worry! I left you air!" Jack yells out as White Eclipse A runs on top of the rock wall, keeping their eyes on their sprite.  
"Tch. It's them." Sting said as they began taking a right.  
"Is that him?" Rogue asked Sting while exchanging looks with Takeru.  
"That's him Rogue. The other shadow dragon slayer."  
"Heh." Takeru gives the smallest of smirks as he and Rogue watch each other until they were both out of sight of each other.  
"Raging bolt!"  
"Roar of the Iron Dragon!"  
"Water Slicer!"  
The three attacks slam into random mages and buildings as Fairy Tail's B team continued running through the streets. Laxus follows closely behind the sprite as he comes to slide and takes a right. They continue running until the sprite stops on the dot.  
"What happened!?" Mirajane asked as she stopped running.  
"I don't know... Is everyone here?" Laxus called out as he looked back.  
"Yeah." Cana says. "Everyone's here!" Just then, their sprite quickly shoots into the air and heads towards the stadium.  
"Does this mean we can go there now!?" Gajeel asked.  
"Juvia thinks so!"  
"Only one way to find out!" Laxus yelled as he took off. "Lets go!"  
"Right!" The others yelled out as they followed behind.  
Reve and the others sprint ahead as the sprite leads the way. Just like Fairy Tail team B, the sprite stops, and then takes off towards the stadium.  
"Yeah that felt like five miles!" Kuro yelled. "To the stadium!" Reve shouted.  
"Hey Reve! Bye Reve!" Luke and Team B come running by at this time as Team A take off toward the stadium.  
"Hurry up!" Reve yelled. "I have a plan but y'all have to hurry!"  
"We're on it, we're on it!" Selene yelled back as they make their way to the inn.  
Sabertooth's sprite stops, and then takes off towards the stadium. The same for Quatro Cerberus, Mermaid Heel, and Fairy Tail A. They all look up and yell out "lets go," as they take off towards the stadium.  
"What's the plan Reve!?" Jack asked.  
"We have to get there first. But we may not finish first. I'm going to snipe everyone down from the stadium. We have to stall until Luke and the others catch up."  
"That's risky." Takeru replied.  
"It's all of us or none of us!" Kuro yelled.  
"Heh, exciting. I'll use my ice to help." Adamantine states.  
"Alright, lets go!"

"We made it!" Luke and the others jump to the balcony. Kairi brings up the rear and as soon as she reaches the balcony, the sprite takes off. They quickly follow. "We've wasted so much time." Kairi cries out.  
"We got this!" Cygnus replies. "Just don't look up at the stadium, it'll be discouraging!"  
They take off in full sprint, following the sprite closely as it turned every which way.

"We're almost there!" Mirajane yelled as Team B made their way up the stairs to the stadium.  
"We have to be first!" Cana exclaimed.  
"Hell yeah we are!" Gajeel smirked as he continued climbing the stairs.  
"...now Adam."  
"Ice Roar!" Whole running, the giant Adamantine fires off a funnel of ice directly at Fairy Tail's B team. The funnel goes rushing towards them. Laxus spots the roar at the last second.  
"Watch out!" They all dive out the way as the Ice roar slams into their staircase. Cana dives too far and at first she catches the ledge of the stairs, but then as the ice roar hits, the now frozen remains of the stairs become to slippery for her to hold on. With a loose grip she lets out a scream as she begins to plummet back to the ground.  
"Cana!"


	30. Chapter 30

White Eclipse  
Chapter 30

"How do we know that you're not just Jellal's thought projection anymore?" Daityas asked.  
"Because Daityas." He fixed his white coat and ran his right hand through his blue hair. Siegrain then turned to Daityas with a sadistic smirk on his face. "That fool over there was forced to revive me. You made him recreate me. Therefore, I was made in regret. Are you following? Jellal didn't want to revive me obviously, but since you forced him to, he wasn't in his right mind, which means I was free from any of his motives. I am Siegrain, and I am now my own person. The same person, that was created to revive Zeref."  
Daityas grins at the revived Siegrain as Jellal was behind the demon slayer, on his hands and knees still coughing from the stomp he took from Daityas. Daityas gets annoyed from the coughing and slams the bottom of is boot to Jellal's skull; the force was so strong it caused a small crater even from such a close range. "Shut up." Daityas turns back to Siegrain who was looking at Tartaros. Tobias was standing off to the right with a very annoyed look on his face as small pebbles continued to hit him across the head. Siegrain looked to the left to see Kiora sitting on top of the unconscious Meredy with a bunch of small rocks in her hand. She continuously tossed them at Tobias hitting him the head repeatedly. He then looks over at Maggie, who was still standing over Meredy with her foot on the mages head, filing her nails and not paying attention to anything that's going on. "Such a...bizarre team you have here. Aren't you all the strongest dark guild?" Siegrain asked.  
"Don't let their demeanors fool you... Seriously, don't." Daityas replied. "They're actually the best mages around when they aren't...well...this."  
Siegrain shrugs. "Right, well I'll be making my way back to the council headquarters now, to take back what's rightfully mine." Siegrain begins walking off. They all watch him until he uses his heavenly body magic and takes off over the horizon.  
"And as for you." Daityas grabs the back of Jellal's head, who was trying to make his way off the ground. He then slams it back into the dirt, ear first. "I'm not exactly sure how thought projection works. I should of asked Siegrain before he left. But it looks like you get to live for now. But you've also seen too much. So.." He lifts Jellal's head and makes him look at Meredy, who was now having her face smushed in by Maggie's foot. "We're gonna take your friend back home with us. I'd be lying if I said we were going to treat her with hospitality. We don't even do that for each other. But we'll keep her alive for the time being. So if you utter a peep about what happened to your weak ass today, we'll hear about it, and I'll personally set up a lacrima screen for you as I burn her to a crisp in front of you and all of Fiore. Oh just talking about it makes me anxious."  
"M-Meredy.." Jellal calls for her as he slowly loses consciousness. Daityas helps him fade out faster as he throws him by his hair back into another tree, leaving Jellal there nearly lifeless. "Lets go." Daityas orders out as Maggie tosses Meredy to Tobias. He reluctantly catches her and begins carrying her by her collar, allowing her body to drag on the ground as Tataros disappears into the night.

.  
Cana was falling from the staircase. As she fell, halfway down, Mirajane caught her, now in her demon Halphas form.  
"I got you." Mirajane said as she grabbed Cana by the leg. Cana catches her breath as she looks up at Mirajane with a sigh of relief. "Thanks Mira."  
"Look out!" Laxus and Gajeel yelled at them both.  
Mirjane turns to see a magic bullet come rushing towards her at full speed. With widened eyes,  
She sways hard to the right to dodge, but the bullet still pierced right through her left wing. She screams out in pain as she and Cana goes crashing to the ground. "Cana, Mirajane!" Juvia yelled out. "Juvia will go get them!"  
Gajeel grabs Juvia by the shoulders before she could take off. She looks back as Laxus shakes his head. "We'll just lose time. It's Cana and Mirajane. They'll make it here in time, lets go." As he finished his sentence, he looked over at the staircase to his right to see White Eclipse A nearing the top. "Shit." Laxus curled his lip in disgust. "They'll finish first." Before they reach the peak to finish, Reve makes a shooting gesture at Laxus with his hand. Then, all of White Eclipse stop right before the reach the top of the staircase. At the very last step, Reve turns and holds the sniper he just shot Mirajane with. He looks through the scope as he aims down at the city, watching everything happen.  
"What's he doing!?" Gajeel asked.  
"He's stalling.. Their B team got a slow start, I saw them running back to the inn earlier." Laxus replied.  
"Tch. Is that even legal?"  
"Juvia thinks that's unfair. Juvia didn't help Gray-Sama even though she wanted to!"  
Reve continues to look through his scope. Laxus watches Reve and sees a smirk appear on his face. He tries to find what Reve is looking at. He does. It was Fairy Tail's A team running towards their staircase. Laxus looks back at Reve with wide eyes as he pulls the trigger, the newly formed magic bullet goes rushing towards Erza, aimed right for her head.  
"LOOK OUT!" Laxus screamed from the top of his lungs. Erza and everyone else look up at Laxus as he yelled.  
"Laxus?" Natsu questioned. As he looked up at the Lightning Dragon slayer, a gleaming light caught his peripherals. And before he could question his instincts, Natsu was tackling Erza to the ground. "Gah!" Erza let out a groan as she and Natsu hit the ground, the bullet hit the ground right as Lucy feet, causing her to yelp and jump back.  
"Reve!" Erza bared her teeth then looked up at the White Eclipse staircase to see Reve posted at the second to last step. She clenched a fist. She knew that if it wasn't for Natsu, Reve would of gotten her twice. So to her, he technically did.  
Erza was so upset, she didn't even thank Natsu. She stood up and kept running. "Come on! Keep your head low and be on the look out for Reve shooting!"  
A team keeps running. Reve takes aim again. "Roar, of the Iron Dragon!" Gajeel fires his roar over at White Eclipse. "Roar, of the Shadow Dragon!" Takeru fires back as both roars collide in the middle and explode, later dispersing into nothing.  
"They have Reve covered!" Juvia yells.  
Laxus growls a bit to himself and then turns to the other side of the staircase where Mirajane and Cana landed but couldn't be seen. "Hey! How long do you two plan on staying down there!? Get a move on!" He looks on as he waits for a response.  
"Mermaid Heel spotted over here Reve! Kuro yelled out as he points to Kagura and the others running.  
"Atta boy." Reve turns to take aim at the running girls, and then fires. "Get down!" Kagura yells as she clearly saw Reve fire. The sudden yell startled and confused the girls, causing only Millianna to duck. Risley Law takes a bullet to the leg, immediately going down into a tumble as she let out a yell of excruciating pain.  
"Risley!" Kagura yelled as she stayed crouch. "Dammit you asshole!" She yelled as she looked back at the gunslinger.  
"They're not getting us!" Blues yelled.  
"Hell no!" Kuro replied as he kept his fists infused with black water as the climbed the stairs.  
"Reve!" Jack yelled.  
"Screw em!" Reve replied. Let them be first, it's a waste of bullets on Bacchus, he's waiting for me to fire. Lets get the ones panicking."  
Bacchus and Quatro Cerberus pass the finish line to their staircase being the first ones to finish.  
"WILD!" Bacchus yells out as he slides across on his knees with his head tilted back in victory.  
"FOUR!" The entire team yells out as they all celebrate in their own way.  
Reve stays focused, waiting for movement. "Come on Luke, Selene, Cygnus. Hurry the hell up.

"Making great time! Hang in there Aira!" Luke called out  
"Don't worry about me!" Aira replied. Aira was using her magic to hover everyone with gusts of wind as she pushed them faster then anyone there could run. She told them not to worry, but the truth was she was already panting as consumed so much magic. She had gotten three miles out of the way quickly though, and still kept pushing.  
"Ice make, Lion!"  
A giant ice lion comes crashing towards the team. It's claw slams into Cygnus, causing him to fall off the gust of wind and into the ground. "Cygnus! Damn it! Stop."  
Aira stops using her magic as everyone lands on the ground and go back go back, unsure of where the attack came from.  
"Sky god's bellow!" Chelia leaps into view as she exhaled her already puffed cheeks, firing off a giant black funnel of air. The funnel goes flying to an already down Cygnus, but instead, Selene steps in with her diamond scales, taking the brunt of the attack. When the smoke clears, Selene stood there basically unscathed. Cygnus was quick to return the favor to Selene as he hopped up to his feet and charged Chelia. Chelia stayed ready and smirked. As Cygnus got closer Chelia mouths the words "gotcha" as a rock pillar shoots out beside her and charges Cygnus. He doesn't stop running though. Instead, Luke jumps in front of Cygnus and create a mirror that reflects the rock pillar into the air. Chelia's eyes widen because she didn't expect this. Cygnus then comes to a hard stop in front of Chelia and had no problem thrusting an uppercut to her gut. He infused his gravity magic with the blow, which caused Chelia to literally go "flying" into the air, basically floating there. With the sky god slayer out the way, Kairi had no problem joining the party as she performed her angel take over. She charged in the process and slid around the corner, spotting the rest of Lamia Scale. Lyon stood ready in his Ice make position as Jura summoned up more Rock Pillars towards Kairi. She flys up and around with her wings to dodge the pursuing pillars.  
"Reve, look. There they are." Takeru pointed over to the flying Kairi dodging the rock pillars.  
"Well that's great, but there's buildings in the way so I can't see her opponents."  
"Wait, those are rock pillars." Jack ran down a few steps and slowly exhaled. He summons a magic circle as he threw down two fingers from his right hand. Breaking the pillars apart. "Yeah!" Kuro yells out. "Nice Jack!"  
"Heh. Wizard saint huh?" Jack smirks as he pulls out a flask and takes a swig of alcohol.  
Jura scowls. "That guy. That's the second time."  
"Wrap it up Kairi we don't have time." Luke and the others begin following the sprite again as Kairi swoops back down. She then pins Lamia scale down by firing off rounds if air bullets. All Jura can do is hold up a rock wall for a shield as Kairi continued firing until all of White Eclipse B took off behind the sprite in the other direction. Jura finally drops the wall as Lyon growls in anger. "Darn it! Lets go!" They continue to follow their sprite down the street that White Eclipse just came from.

Eve and the others of Blue Pegasus finally sit up. Eve holds his head in pain. "Gah... What happened?" Eve asked.  
"I don't know... The competition!" Ren shouted. "How long have we been out!?"  
"Men! No time for that! Lets keep moving!" Ichiya stated. All of Blue Pegasus were on the move again.  
"What about them Reve?" Adamantine stated as he head nod to Blue Pegasus.  
"Hmm." Reve smirked as he took aim at Ichiya. And pulls the trigger. The bullet forms and goes flying.  
"Senpai!" Ren dives, and pushes Ichiya out the way, causing the bullet to slam into his ribs. He goes tumbling into the ground a good ways away from his team. "Ren!" Hibiki shouts as he runs over to his fallen guild mate. "Ren wake up! Stay awake Ren!"  
Jenny stands there speechless, her hand covering her mouth. Ichiya looks up at Reve who was grinning. "Great shot Reve." Adamantine complimented. Ichiya couldn't do anything but glare. "You'll pay for that."  
"Oi, you're doing nothing but making enemies." Laxus stated to Reve.  
"That's fine with us. We aren't here to be your friends." Reve smirked back.  
"This way!" Selene slides into a right turn, now leading the pack as the sprite continues moving. The others follow closely behind. It was a dead sprint down a long street. The sprite stopped at the end of the street and then took off towards the stadium.  
"We did it!" Kairi yelled in excitement.  
"Almost there! Now lets make it to the stadium." Aira added.  
"Lets go!" Luke yelled as they all turned around.  
"Roar of the White Dragon!"  
"Roar of the Shadow Dragon!"  
"Lightning God's bellow!"  
The second they turn around, a giant unison raid slams into all of White Eclipse. All five of them laid on the ground in K.O. With white eyes as the smoke cleared.  
"Reve!" Kuro cried out.  
"Shit!" Reve turned his sniper to take aim, but Sabertooth was already out of sight. "Dammit! They're out cold!" Everyone was so distracted, that Fairy Tail A ran right past them on their own stairwell, coming in second.  
"Laxus! What's the hold up!?" Natsu yelled out. Catching Reve and others attention.  
"We're running out of time.." Reve mumbled.  
"Mirajane and Cana fell off the stair well!" Laxus yelled back. "We're waiting on them."  
"What!?" Natsu bent over the edge of the stairs as he yelled down into the pitch black. "Cana! Mira! Get up!" He roared his loudest. A few minutes later, a decent sized explosion happens as Mirajane flies into the air in her Satan Soul takeover with Cana holding on to her back. Reve looks over at Mirajane and Cana as Laxus smirks back at them and crosses over the line. "... Lets go." Reve said.  
"What? We have to wait for them." Kuro pleaded.  
"We're already in fourth.. We'll just have to hold down the White Eclipse name ourselves. Everyone but Kuro crosses over the line. "Kuro.." Jack called to him. "Come on.. We have to."  
Kuro looks up at his team and then turns and cups his hands over his mouth. "LUKE! SELENE! KAIRI! CYGNUS! AIRA! GET UP!"  
GET UP!" Jack pulls Kuro over the line as he continued yelling. "GET UP!"  
By this time, Sabertooth and Lamia scale finish fifth and sixth. Mermaid Heel then rolls in seventh.  
"Only one spot left-Kabo!" The host shouts out.  
Luke begins to force his body up. "Saber..tooth."  
"You made the wrong..enemies." Cygnus stated as he made his way to his feet.  
"G-gah! They'll pay.." Kairi sits and then stands up with Aira who was coughing.  
"Lets finish this stupid race, so I can flatten some Sabers." Selene says as she stands up straight, nearly leaning over backwards to catch her breath.  
All five of then immediately take off in a dead sprint.  
On the other side of the city, Blue Pegasus was in a dead sprint to the stairs as well. Ichiya carried Ren on his shoulders as he was now bulked up from the parfum he sniffed. Both teams hit the stairs at the same time. And begin climbing. It was nearly too close to call as everyone looked on. "Lets go!" Luke yelled out as both teams hit the final ten steps at the same time.  
White Eclipse crosses the line as the host waits. He looks at them.  
"Sorry... You came in ninth."  
Blue Pegasus stood in shock from the news that they lost, while White Eclipse B laid in a pile on top of each other, panting heavily as they smiled and laughed.  
"I..told you..not to panic.." Luke breathes out.  
"They're gonna...kill us..back at the inn." Selene says while laughing and breathing heavily.  
"Worth it..." Aira added. "So worth it."  
"I'm eating a giant meatball sub when we get to the inn." Cygnus stated "Who wants to help me find a sub place."  
"NO!" Everyone shouted as they all laughed.  
"They made it." Reve smiled.  
"By less than a second. But they're here." Adamantine stated.  
"You guys did it!" Kuro cheered as he jumped on top of the dog pile. Causing the lot of them to groan in pain and exhaustion.  
"Heh." Takeru just grins as Selene looks over from the ground and winks.  
"Heh. You can't be mad at them." Laxus says as he watches on.  
"I want them in!" Natsu exclaims. "It wouldn't be right if I didn't get to pound them myself!"  
"Is this what it's like?" Erza thought to herself. "It's like being on the outside looking in. We aren't as bad, but... Is this how we are to others? And after all they're actions. They're still a family."  
"Heh. Wild group." Bacchus smirks.  
The other guilds look on as White Eclipse continues laughing in relief with Kuro on top, celebrating their survival of the elimination round.


	31. Chapter 31

White Eclipse  
Chapter 31

"I don't even know what to say to you runts right now! Especially you, Luke! You were here last year! You should of known better! You put your team at risk, you put the other team at risk, you put the whole guild at risk of humiliation, after everything you all worked for!" Master Calium was scolding the B team back at the inn. With the rest of the guild behind him, all squeezing into one room to listen to the lecture. "I don't even know what to do with you five right now!"  
"But we still made it, Master." Selene mumbled out. Calium turned to Selene with the most authoritative, scariest look, quickly causing her to stay quiet. "This wasn't about making it. This is about your horrible attitudes and lack of responsibilities. Calium then turns to Reve. "You aren't innocent either!"  
"O-old man! What did I do?!" Reve asked, in a bit of shock that Calium called him out.  
"A leader's attitude is reflected upon his team. This, /we're better than everyone/ attitude of yours has hot everyone here, but you forgot to show them the side that actually tries and gives effort." Reve averts his eyes and crosses his arms. "Now I'm not the one to be concerned about competitions, but you all are, and y'all wanted this! So dammit act like you want it! You chose this path, it's my job to make sure you finish it! Now...get ready and get some rest. I'm going to sleep this headache off." Calium turns and walks off as the guild lets him through. Sidney does the same, following right behind him.  
"He's right." Taya stated. "What you did was embarrassing, but I'm glad you still got in, B team. But that's the only time we can afford last place."  
"It's going to be embarrassing to walk out when eighth place is called tomorrow." Kairi stated. While she was sitting on a counter, Zain was checking her knee by swinging her right leg back and forth. Kairi kept a straight face as he did so.  
"Now are you sure that doesn't hurt? You were limping on the way up here." Zain asked.  
Kairi nodded. "Mhm. I'm fine."  
"Don't shit us Kairi." Reve spoke. "If you're hurt you're hurt. We don't need you in a fight, already giving your opponent a handicap."  
"I'm fine!" Kairi exclaimed. "In fact, I'm so fine, that I volunteer for the first event for the B team."  
Luke and the others look at each other. The others shrug. "Sure, sounds good Kairi." Luke said.  
She smiles. "Easy win."  
"I'll go for us." Adamantine stated.  
"Already?" Reve asked.  
Adam smirked. "Might as well start off strong. If you catch my drift."  
Reve nodded. "Well, lets get some shut eye, it's late; or early, however you look at it."  
Everyone then returns to their respective rooms as they wait for the pending day.

"Aye, Natsu!" Happy comes flying into the room. Natsu was lounging around on a pull out sofa. Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Lucy were also in the room sitting around. "Hm? Oh hey Happy." Natsu replied.  
Happy looked around as he hovered in the air. "Why is everyone so quiet? You're in the top three!"  
"Ichiya and the others didn't make it. And Ren is badly hurt." Lucy commented as she looked at the ground, keeping her hands in her lap.  
Happy also felt a bit of sorrow as he averted his eyes to the ground.  
"Those bastards." Gray commented.  
"Whatever." Natsu replied.  
"What was that Natsu!?" Gray turned to him upset. He clenched a fist. "Those were our friends. And-"  
"And this isn't a friendly competition." Natsu interjected. "We have a title to defend. So I'm not worried about Blue Pegasus not making it. I'm worried about pounding anyone who gets in our way of number one! Ren's fine. He was hit in the ribs not the head. If you want to be mad at those Eclipse guys, then be mad because Reve aimed for Erza's head when he shot at us. And we still finished before them. That's what matters right now." Gray stays glaring at Natsu a bit, but then lowers himself since he knew he was right.  
"Anyways, lets find out who's starting us off tomorrow. We want to start off strong."  
"Let me go." Wendy called out. "I would like to get my event out the way, just in case it comes down to the wire with another guild. I'd rather you guys handle that. I'll still do my best though!"  
"Don't say it like that Wendy." Lucy said. "You're just as strong as anyone here."  
"Yeah so let me go first, I'd like to redeem myself from last year when I went first and bombed it. I'm ready for anything this time." Gray states.  
Erza nodded. "Sounds good to me."  
"So that settles it!" Wendy said as she claps her hands together.  
"I wonder who Laxus is using then?" Natsu wondered.  
Gray stretches his arms and yawns. "We'll find out tomorrow." Gray commented as he stood up. "For now, I'm headed to bed."  
"We all should do the same." Erza says as she too stands and begins walking out. Wendy skips out right behind her. "Night!" As they all walk out, Natsu finally sits up from the couch and begins yawning. "Well, goodnight. And good luck tomorrow." He says as he smiles and gives Lucy a thumbs up. "You'll do great I'm sure."  
Lucy gives a soft smile and nods. "Right. See you tomorrow."

.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! It is the time you've all been waiting for! The beginning of the X792 Grand Magic Games! I'm your main announcer, Chapati Lola! To my right is the Captain of the 4th Custody Unit Lahar, and to my left is former council member Yajima!"  
They both wave.  
"Not to waste anytime, lets introduce the teams that have survived the elimination round!"  
The crowd cheers as they wait in anticipation of the teams.  
"In eighth place, the new comers. They were eliminated last year in the preliminaries. It's White Eclipse!" Out walks Luke, Selene, Kairi as she tries to not limp, but Zain notices from the crowd as everyone else cheers. "Liar.."  
Then follow Aira and Cygnus brings up the rear.  
"I thought they were tough?" A fan shouts. "How did they end up in eighth?"  
"Didnt you watch!?" Another fan yells back. "They started late! They're at least fifth in my book!"  
"Oh man, we have a lot of work to do." Luke said.  
"Don't worry. We'll make up for it." Selene replied.  
"And for your seventh place team! The all girls guild known as Mermaid Heel!" The crowd roars even louder as Kagura and Mermaid Heel walk out to the arena. "Hmph.. We should of done better." Kagura stressed.  
"It's alright! We'll take first today!" Millianna replied.  
"Coming in sixth, is Lamia Scale!" Out walks Lyon, Jura, Chelia, Yuka and Toby.  
"That's the last time you'll hear Lamia Scale and sixth." Lyon commented as he smirked with his arms folded.  
"NOW THAT I HAVE BOTH MY SOCKS IM AT FULL POWER OOOOONNN!" Toby yelled out as he stood at the end of Lamia Scale's team.  
"And in fifth place! A surprising drop from last year. It's Sabertooth!" Sting, Rogue, Orga, Rufus and Yukino walk out, a bit disappointed in themselves with their finish, yet they continue to smile and pander to the crowd with waves. Yet, no one says a word as they wait for introductions to finish.  
"In fourth place! Four spots higher than their fellow guild mates. It's White Eclipse A!"  
Reve, Takeru, Kuro, Jack, and Adamantine walk out. The crowd awes at Adam. His ginormous six foot seven inch frame terrified yet amazed the fans at the same time, causing a mix of cheers and gawks to swirl together. "Wow. You draw quite an attraction Adam." Kuro stated. Adam merely shrugs.  
"This is exciting. Is your soul quivering Reve?" Jack asked with a grin. Reve then grins back at Jack. "Something like it, Royal."  
"Alright! And in third place! One place down from last year! It's Fairy Tail team B!"  
Laxus and Gajeel stand side by side as the others are right behind them to the side a bit. Gajeel, Mirajane and Cana all held smirks on their faces as Laxus and Juvia stood with emotionless stares at the competition.  
"In second place! Jumping six spots! The other half of the defending champions! Fairy Tail team A!  
"Aye!" Natsu comes out leading the way with a fist in the air. That fist turns into the famous Fairy Tail insignia as the rest of the team follows behind. Even team B and the rest of the guild raise their arms up with the sign as the crowd roars with excitement.  
"Lets do this!" Lucy said with excitement as she fist pumped.  
"Right. It's all serious from here." Erza stated.  
"I'll do my best!" Wendy yelled as she waved to the guild.  
"I'm all fired up!"  
"And finally, by a huge upset. The team that finished first is.. Quatro Cerberus!" They all walk out with a certain swagger to their step, as if they were the champs already.  
"It's not an upset, we're just WILD!" Bacchus yelled.  
"FOUR!" The entire arena exploded with the chant as the continue to cheer for Quatro Cerberus. Bacchus, Blues, Yaeger, Kuro, and Rocker all stand in the midst of it, marveling in their glory as if they won the whole thing. "A marvelous sight indeed! Now, will the mages participating in today's event please step forward to the middle of the arena." Five mages step into the arena as Chapati begins speaking again to call out the participating mages as the lacrima screen shows their face and name.  
"So today's contestants are:  
White Eclipse B's Kairi Ayres!  
Mermaid Heel's Millianna!  
Lamia Scale's Yuka Suzuki!  
Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear!  
White Eclipse A's Adamantine!  
Fairy Tail B's Gajeel Redfox!  
Fairy Tail A's Gray Fullbuster!  
And Quatro Cerberus Yaeger!"  
"Heh. This is will be easy. I see no competition here." Adamantine smirked.  
Gray smirks. "We'll see about that."  
"I'm sorry, did an unworthy ice mage just say something? You're a mockery to my element."  
"What did you say!?" Gray growled as Adamantine smirks, waiting for the event to be explained.  
"Today's event is!" The middle of the arena breaks off from the rest, and begins to rise about twenty feet into the air. "Toss out!"  
"Toss out?" Erza questioned. "Well they did say it switches up each year."  
"The rules are simple." Lahar spoke as he read from a card.  
"The last one on the pillar wins. The losers will go from second to last according to when they hit the ground."  
"Alright!" Gajeel says as he boldy walks to the middle.  
"What's that idiot doing?" Laxus sneered.  
"I'm taking you all out! Watch this!" Gajeel grinned at Chapati began the countdown.  
"3!  
2!  
1!  
Go!"  
A buzzer goes off. Gray immediately slams his fist into his palm as he takes his stance. He turns to Yaeger. "Ice make: Lance!" He fires off a multitude of lances toward the Mage. Yaeger, with not much room to move brings up a green magic circle, as a tall plant blocks the lances that came toward him. "Nice try!" Yaeger roared out as he charges Gray, now swinging punches at the elusive ice maker.  
Everyone else was holding their position for a bit, until Orga runs towards Gajeel who was standing in the middle. Gajeel grinned as Orga aimed a black thunder infused right hook at his jaw. Gajeel ducked and slams a hard short uppercut to Orga's gut.  
"That was quick!" Rogue exclaimed as he watched from below.  
Orga bared his teeth and winces. He then goes for a back fist, but Gajeel puts up a forearm to block. He goes sliding a bit. As he does go sliding, he puffs his cheeks while looking at Orga but at the last second, turns to Millianna. "Roar of the Iron Dragon!" The funnel of iron goes hurling towards Millianna, but in desperation she dives out the way at the last second.  
"Millianna stay away from the edge!" Kagura yells out.  
"Right!"  
"You're open!" Orga comes to a sliding halt to the left of Millianna, and slams a lightning infused uppercut to her chin. Millianna goes flying, dazed. She hits the ground and tumbles off the pillar, onto the ground.  
"Oh! And Mermaid Heel is in last place with Millianna hitting the ground!"  
"Tch!" Kagura seethed a bit.  
Back on the pillar, Gray was still dodging Yaeger's onslaught until his back foot hit the edge of the pillar. Gray smirked however. And Yeager swung a powerful right punch. Gray ducked the punch and while crouching, he used Yaeger's momentum to flip him out.  
"Yeager's falling!" Chapati called out. Yeager summons another magic circle at the edge of the pillar. Two vines pop out and wrap around his wrist. He then begins his long swing to the other side of the pillar.  
On that side. Kairi had performed her angel takeover. She begins firing air bullets towards Yuka, who uses his wave magic to dispel them. He then fires back with his own wave bullets. Kairi hops backwards from left to right to dodge them. She ultimately takes off into the air, using her wings as an advantage. "Man." Yuka looks up at her annoyed. "She can fly, that's not cool." As Yuka stood at the edge looking, Yeager had completely swung around.  
"Yuka!" Lyon yells out. But it was too late. Yeager grabs Yuka by the back of his collar.  
"Going down? Wild!"  
"Four!"  
Yeager pulls Yuka off the pillar and throws him to the ground, causing Yuka to crash into the ground off the pillar.  
"And down goes Yuka! That means Lamia scale ends up with one point!"  
"Ugh! Stay off the edge was that so hard!" Lyon says in an annoyed tone.  
Gajeel couldn't help but smirk at Yeager's tactic as the plant Mage hops back up on the pillar. "Well isn't this a party? Everyone is active. Except.." Gajeel turns his head to Adamantine. Everyone on the pillar stops for this. Orga even backs back to the edge as he, Gray, and Yeager surround them.  
"I'm taking advantage the second I can." Yeager thought to himself as he shifted his eyes around the pillar. "Oi." Gajeel grins at Adam. "You haven't moved all match."  
Adam slowly smirks. "No reason to. None of you are competition."  
"Oh is that so?" Gajeel gives a sadistic smile as he turns his fists into iron poles. "How bout I give you some then?"  
Kairi looks down at Gajeel who was clearly focused on Adamantine. "Nows my chance."  
Kairi swoops down at full speed towards Gajeel. With full momentum she rears her leg back and swings a right kick at the Iron Dragon Slayer's head. Gajeel saw the kick coming at the last second and puts up an iron pole to block. Kairi's knee slams right into the pole. Her eyes widen in excruciating pain as she feels something pop. Kairi lets out a scream as she hits the pillar ground holding her knee.  
"Ouch! It looks like Kairi may have hurt something going against Gajeel's iron!"  
"That seemed painful.." Yajima replied.  
Lahar stayed wincing as the crowd was hushed.  
"That's black steel for you." Gajeel laughed as he through his head back.  
"Damn Gajeel." Gray stated. Just as he said that, a giant Venus fly trap sprouts from a magic circle under Gray, shooting him into the air. "Gah!"  
Gray flips as he recovers and readies himself. "Ice make: hammer!" He sends a giant ice hammer flying towards Yeager. Due to the distance Yeager dodges by jumping out the way.  
Gajeel looks down at Kairi. "Lets get you out of here. Gajeel reaches down to grab Kairi, but in desperation, she fires an air bullet right into Gajeel's face causing him to go sliding back until he balances over the edge, trying to stay on. "Gajeel-Kun!" Juvia called out. "Watch out!" While still on the ground , Kiara continues firing the bullets at Gajeel. Redfox slams a pole into the ground and extends it, taking into the air. When high enough he stops, and heads straight down for Kairi, turning his right arm into his iron sword. Before the blow could connect, Adam finally made a move, grabbing Kairi and lunging out the way. Gajeel's sword hit the pillar, literally breaking the pillar in half. On one side was now Gray Adamantine and Kaira, the other side was now Gajeel, Yeager and Orga.  
"Lets make a deal Kairi." Adamantine said.  
"Huh?" Kairi looked up at Adamantine who was infront of her, basically protecting her from the other mages.  
"I'm going to protect you. Once I clear out all the mages, I want you to step down as second place okay? For the guild."  
Kairi nods. "As long as the name White Eclipse has first place! I'm fine with that plan. Thanks...Adam."  
"Yeah yeah. Now... What are you clowns waiting on!" Adamantine yelled out.  
"Not a thing! Ice make: Cold Excalibur!" Gray forms a giant sword made of ice in his hands and charges and swings at Adamantine. As the collision happens, the ice Excalibur was shown... Caught between the teeth of Adamantine. He then breaks it off and eats the chunk he has in his mouth. "What!? Gray was stunned.  
"Not bad. My turn. Ice roar!" Adam, without inhaling, fires off a funnel of ice that slams into Gray. He goes flying backwards towards and past the other side of the pillar. "Gray! Heads up!" Gajeel catches Gray by the collar and spins, swinging him between Orga and Yeager. "Ice bringer!" Gray sprouts two swords and slices past them both, stopping at the edge. Orga and Yeager go falling off the pillar.  
"Orga!" Sting called out as he hits the ground.  
"Orga is out! That's two points for Sabertooth!"  
Yeager fell as well, but the plant mage had punched the wall of the pillar and now had a fist embedded into the pillar to keep him from touching the ground. He sighs in relief as he stays there to gather himself.  
"Well then." Adam smirks. "Fairy Tell vs White Eclipse." How cliche will this story become over the games eh?  
"Not too cliche. You're no match for us." Gray stated.  
"Oh? Then how about you first ice maker?" Adam gives Gray the bring it sign as gray steps up, disrobing his jacket and shirt in one swoop. "Ice make: Ice canon!" Gray creates a large cannon and fires off a blast. The recoil sends him back a bit. Adam charges, slams down a fist into the blast. "Holy." Before Gray could finish his statement, Adam was in his face and slammed a crystallized elbow to Grays chest. Not only did he go off the pillar, but the force behind the blow sent gray flying into the wall back first as he was knocked out for a KO. Everyone, even the announcers were speechless for a while.  
"That's my brother..heh." A voice from an undisclosed location said.  
"Gray!" Lucy yelled out in shock. Everyone from the Fairy Tail looked at Adam in shock, some in fear. "G-Gray Fullbuster he down! Fairy Tail A finishes with three points."  
"Who is that monster!?" Makarov shouted.  
"That's Adamantine. The strongest ice Mage in Fiore." Calium boasted.  
"Gray-Sama!" Juvia was the first one over to check on him as the rest of Fairy Tail A come up to look at the knocked out Gray Fullbuster.  
"Heh. A little weaker than usual. But I'll take it." Adam gloated.  
"Adam look out!" Kairi yells. Adam turns to see Gajeel swinging a punch. He also noticed they Gajeel was now covered in iron scales. "Iron dragon's hard fist!" Gajeel slams it into Adams forearm he put up. The blow slides him inches back.  
"Tch! No way!"  
Before Adam could retaliate, two vines wrap around his leg. "What!?"  
Gajeel swings another iron fist as Yeager pullsthe vines at the same time. Adam goes falling off the pillar. Yeager smiles. That smile quickly fades as Adam grabs Yeager by the leg, bringing him down with him. They both hit the ground, Adam first. "Oh man! A double toss out!" White Eclipse A gets four points! Quatro Cerberus has six! We're down to two mages!"  
Gajeel turns to Kairi, but before he could say anything, air bullets began firing into him repeatedly. He puts his arms up in an X as he begins sliding backwards, almost to the edge. Kairi seemingly had him pinned. "She's gonna do it!" Aira yelled.  
"Don't stop Kairi!" Selene yelled as well.  
"Shit!" Gajeel yelled out. He slid to the edge as he felt himself teetering.  
"Finish it!" Reve yelled. Kairi fires one more, completely out of magic afterwards. It slams into Gajeel but he doesn't move. "Just kidding. Gihehehahaha!" Kairi's eyes widen as Gajeel walks back to the middle and puts his foot on the crack in the middle of the pillar he created earlier. "Been fun. But this it the Fairy Tail era." He pushed Kairi's side of the pillar over with his foot. She yells as she prepares for impact. She hits the ground back first and shielding her knee. The bell rings three times.  
"Gajeel picks up the win for Fairy Tail B! They're in the lead with ten points! White Eclipse B finishes with eight!"  
"Good job Gajeel!" Cana yells out. Laxus stands with a smirk of approval. "Hai" Mirajane nods in approval as well. "I hope Gray is okay.  
"Adam.." Kairi looks up as Adam picks Kairi up and carries her back to the infirmary. Zain was already leaving his seat to head there as well. "Good job Kairi. You outlasted nearly everyone with a hurt knee."  
Kairi gives Adamantine a small smile as the leave the area.  
"Sorry Bacchus, GoldMine." Yeager says as he scratched the back of his head.  
"Sorry? For what!? That was Wild!" Bacchus replied. "We're in good shape!"  
Goldmine nodded. "Great job Yeager."  
Yeager smiles at the approvals of his guild superiors.  
"Millianna..." Kagura doesn't say anything else as the arena magically repairs back to normal. Lyon give Yuka the same treatment as Jura pats him on the shoulder.

"Well that was fun to watch." Mithril said. He, Daityas, Maggie, and Kiora were posted on a tower ceiling.  
"So can we go?" Kiora asked.  
"I'm bored of today."  
"Don't be such a downer Kiora. If Kuro doesn't fight today, then we can go. I want to see our training in action." Daityas replied.  
"You've really taken a liking to the bloke." Maggie stated.  
"Well he is our next Mage in Tartaros."  
"I doubt it." Kiora debated. "He's way too goodie goodie. Even if he's not on good terms with his friends. But we'll see."

"Okay now that the arena is back to normal it's time for the battle portion of the first day! First up is Mermaid Heel's Risley Law! Vs. White Eclipse A's Kuro Crane!"  
Daityas immediately sits up and smirks.  
"Lets go Kuro!" Reve called out as Kuro walked to the arena. He gave him a dismissive wave as he stood across from Risley.  
Kuro bows and then waves to Risley. "Good luck!"  
Risley smiles. "Don't underestimate a chubby girl! But good luck to you too!"  
"Fighters ready-Kabo!?" The host stood off to the side with his arms up. He then throws them down. "Go!"  
"Here I go!" Risley charges right for Kuro, but at the last second, Kuro sways to the right making her miss completely. All in one slow motion, Kuro slams his hands together. "Fire make: Tornado." Kuro said in such a calm manner. A point blank range, a giant tornado made of flames swooped Risley up and then kept traveling until it slammed into a wall. Risley was KO'ed instantly and burned.  
"Oh my god." Lucy looked on in shock.  
"Risley!" Millianna cried out.  
"These aren't the same mages we had a rivalry with nearly a year ago." Erza stated.  
"...without question, Risley Law is down. The winner and awarded ten points is White Eclipse A!"  
Kuro bows to Risley again and waves. "Sorry! I don't like to fight really, but it's for my guild. Better luck next time!" Kuro runs off the field and to his team. They even look at him in surprise.  
"Daityas, no doubt." Taya said to herself.  
"Oh man!" Kiora said in surprise. "I mean..eh not bad."  
"That's my pupil." Daityas boasted. "Now just think if he did that with no remorse to life. He needs us."  
"That bloody devil is really something now." Maggie said.  
"Not bad at all." Mithril added.  
"Okay, now we can leave."  
"Kuro that was amazing!" Zalen yelled from the stands. "Mary would be proud right now!"  
Kuro turns to Zalen with a smile and gives him a thumbs up as the next to mages are called.  
"Next we have. Fairy Tail B's Cana Alberona. Vs. Quatro Cerberus's Blues!"  
Cana stood with her hands on her hips. "The new guy huh? Well lets break you in some why don't we?"  
Blues loosens his tie as he grins. "Heh, that's fine with me."


	32. Chapter 32

White Eclipse  
Chapter 32

"Next up is Cana Alberona, vs. Blues from Quatro Cerberus!"  
"We're about to have twenty points off the bat." Cana says with a sly smile.  
"Don't underestimate me." Blues says as he readies himself.  
"Oh I'm not." Cana begins to take off her jacket, exposing the Fairy Glitter sign on her arm. "It's just that I'm unbeatable."  
"I have to really quit letting her borrow that thing." Mavis says as she smiles at Cana's confidence. "She's really been relying on it."  
"Remember what I told you Blues!" GoldMine called out.  
Blues nods at GoldMine, and then turns back to Cana as the host threw his hands in the air.  
"Fighters ready-Kabo?  
Begin!"  
Blues quickly charges Cana at a high speed, crowding her as he throws a hard high kick aimed at her head. Cana ducks it and then hops away while pulling out her two cards. "Explosion!" Two magic circles appear from the card as a trail of explosive magic goes rushing toward Blues. "Heh." Blues, with great timing, leaps into the air. He then dives bombs towards Cana as water wraps around his fists. He rears back a right fist and swings down a haymaker as he near Cana, aiming for the top of her head. She dodges again by rolling out the way. The impact from the punch colliding with the ground leaves a small crater.  
"Pretty strong punch." Erza stated as she continued watching.  
As Cana pops up from her roll, she was quickly crowded again by Blues as he began throwing water infused punches and kicks at her. She begins ducking and dodging as she backed up, until Blues caught her with a hard hook to the jaw. Cana goes sliding to the right. She didn't have anytime to recover as Blue's was in her face again, this time with a kick to the midsection and an open palm strike to her temple. Cana goes tumbling into she pops up into a sliding stop. Now panting. "Okay you ass. You asked for it." Cana raised her right arm as it started glowing, but before she could do anything else, Blues slams a knee into her gut, causing her to lose concentration and hunch over in pain. "That's one attack I won't let you get off." Blues says as he slams another open palm, still infused with his water magic, against Cana's head. Cana falls down right in front of him in pain. Blues goes for a stomp to Cana's gut, But she quickly rolls out the way. As she rolls, She throws out two more cards. "Wind edge!" The two cards summon out two spirals of wind as they combine into one bigger spiral. The spiral slams into Blues, pushing the Dragon Slayer backwards and then lifting him into the air. "Gah!" Blues goes flying into the air.  
"Now's my chance!" Cana raises her arm again.  
"Oh no you don't!" Before Cana could even start, from the air, Blues wraps a whip made of water around her wrist. He then yanks the whip, Pulling Cana high into the air as she yelps. Cana's arm begins shining. "Almost...there!" Cana winces as she was flung in the air. A golden halo of light starts to wrap around her arm. "Ready! Fairy Gli-" before Cana could fire, Blues had yanked the aquatic whip down again, slamming Cana into the ground back first and knocking the breath out of her.  
"Cana!" Juvia cried out.  
"Finish it Blues!" Bacchus yells.  
"Roar of the Aquatic Dragon!" Blues quickly fires off a funnel of water that was as hard as steel itself. The funnel came roaring in at a high speed and slams into the card mage.  
The bell rings three times as Cana was shown KO'ed from the roar. The light from the Fairy Glitter disappearing.  
"Cana is unable to continue-Kabo." The host calls out as he raises his hand.  
"Oh my! Quatro Cerberus picks up the win against Fairy Tail B! What a win for Blues!"  
"Wild!" Blues howls out towards his guild mates.  
"Four!" They all, even a good bit of the crowd, reply.  
The crowd begins to talk. "I believe in Quatro Cerberus now!"  
"They're a lot stronger than last year!"  
"Lets go Cerberus!"

.  
Back inside the infirmary, Zain had just finished wrapping up Kairi's knee as she sat up on the infirmary bed.  
"Hm."  
"Go ahead and say it Zain." Kairi says. "Tell me how I lied about my knee and you told me so because you're the doctor."  
Zain gives a small smile as he breaks off the bandage tape and finished the wrapping completely. "No need. You did it for me. Second place on one knee though. Not bad. Just think, you probably would of came in first if you were healthy."  
"Nice backhanded compliment there." Kairi says as she smirks.  
Just then, the A team, with some of the alternates walk into the infirmary. Kairi looks up.  
"Huh? Shouldn't y'all be watching the fights?" She questioned.  
"Eh. We aren't concerned with anyone except us and your team." Reve answered. "Besides that, how's the knee?"  
"I'm good!" Kairi states as she hops up. She immediately hops on her good leg, as the hurt knee was in too much pain to put any pressure on it. She hops back on the bed. "...see?"  
Reve chuckles. "Yeah, it's time for an alternate."  
"Wait no! Give me a few hours! I'll be fine."  
"Let it go Kairi." Sidney states. Kairi was about to protest again, but she stays quiet due to the SS class mage's word being law in their guild basically.  
Reve then turns to the next in liners. "So.. Who's gonna take her place huh?"  
Jaxon looks around and then steps forward. "Looks like I'm up." The green haired mage smiled.  
"That settles that then." Taya said.  
Kairi sighs and averts her eyes as she sees Adam enter behind everyone. "Sorry Adam. You had to protect me.."  
"Don't bother with the apology. Everything rounded it out fine. Thanks to Kuro, we have fourteen points to Quatro Cerberus sixteen. And Fairy Tail B is stuck at ten. Then you saw what I did to Fullbuster, so even if the other Fairy team wins, they'll be behind us still. All we need is for whoever is up on the B team to win."  
Kairi nodded. "Hai! Thanks, but I'm still sorry for my selfishness."  
"Stop it's fine. Let it be." Reve says as he turns to the screen, Seeing Wendy Marvel walk to the arena. "Looks like the other Fairies are up now."  
"Against who though? Jaxon asked as everyone turned to the screen."  
Back at the arena as Wendy waited for her opponent, out walks Lamia Scale's Toby Horhorta.  
"Wendy bows." Good luck Toby!  
"I WON'T NEED IT NOW THAT I'M FULLY EQUIPPED!" Toby shouts as he extends his nails.  
"Begin!"  
Toby charges Wendy and swings his nails at her face horizontally. Wendy ducks and fires a Roar of the Sky Dragon into his chest, slamming him into the wall, KO'ing him instantly.  
"...Toby is unable to continue! Wendy Marvel wins!" The host yells as he raises a hand.  
"That was quick." Chapati says through the microphone.  
"And expected." Lahar added.  
"That gives Fairy Tail A twelve points!"  
Reve arches a brow at the screen as he watched the short match. "Lamia Scale seems to be the joke this year." The gunslinger stated.  
"B team is up. Lets go watch. They're up against Sabertooth!" Kuro exclaimed.  
"Yes, should be a good one." Zalen nodded as he fixed his glasses.  
"Well lets to see!" Kairi shouts as she grabs the crutches that Zain hands to her, now hopping on one leg with her crutches balancing as extra legs.  
Back at the arena, as White Eclipse take their spots back in the audience and with the team, Chapati Lola begins talking.  
"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the last fight of the day! It's Sabertooth's Lufus Rohr! Vs. White Eclipse B's Cygnus Gwydion!"  
"This one is a challenge just because of his magic." Selene stated.  
"Cygnus can handle it." Luke adds as he watches, leaning against the railing.  
Cygnus and Rufus stare each other down.  
"Well then. I have no memory of your magic, yet. So this may be a challenge for a couple of seconds." Rufus commented as he smirked while folding his hands behind his back.  
"Heh. Didn't you lose to Fullbuster last year? If so, then this fight will be a victory for White Eclipse no problem." Cygnus replied.  
The host raised his hand in the air. "Mages ready-Kabo?  
Begin!"  
As the pumpkin headed host throws his hand down, Cygnus charges Rufus. He swings an uppercut to his jaw, but his hand goes right throw him.  
"Sorry, that's just a memory of where I was.." Rufus appears behind Cygnus with a grin and swings a high kick aimed at the back of his head. Cygnus however, turns and blocks his kick as he chuckles. "I know of your memory make, so I'll be on my toes."  
"Rufus was caught off balance from being too relaxed and cocky. This gave Cygnus all the time he needed as he throw a right hook into Rufus's jaw, causing him to go sliding backwards.  
"Tch!" Rufus comes to a stop as he still waits for Cygnus to show some sign of magic. "That all you have for me?"  
"I'm just getting started Rufus."  
Cygnus conjures up a magic circle above Rufus as gravity slams him down, holding him down in the ground. "Gravity?" Rufus questioned as he was seemingly pinned down. Cygnus doesn't attack the pinned down Rufus. Instead, he turns hard to his left, to see Rufus there, but before he could react, Cygnus was now being pushed towards the ground by gravity. "I remember."  
"Of course you do..! It just happened!"  
"Heh." Rufus chuckled, and then slammed a left straight to Cygnus jaw. His head snaps to the right, but with a grin, Cygnus retaliates with a left haymaker to the memory make mage's jaw, causing him to go stumbling back a good bit.  
"What!? But the gravity?"  
Cygnus laughs a bit as a purple aura comes over his fist. "Silly Saber. I control gravity! I'm a gravity god! Meteor smash!"  
Out of a magic circle, is a black hole. Before Rufus could get a grip of anything, his feet leave the ground as he was sucked into the black hole.  
"What? Where'd he go!?" A random shouted.  
"Is he gone-Kabo?"  
Cygnus merely smirks as he walks to the right arena wall. Now standing two feet away from it, he opens his palm and the black hole reappears. Rufus shoots out at a high speed, back first into the wall and then slides down to the floor, KO'ed.  
"Who are these people!?" Sting cries out as he begins growling, and pulling on his hair.  
"Rufus is unable to continue. Cygnus Gwydion wins-Kabo!"  
"Oh my! Sabertooth takes the fall as Cygnus picks up the win for White Eclipse B, giving them eighteen points! That also concludes the first day of the Grand Magic Games! Lets review the leader board!  
Sitting in first is White Eclipse B with eighteen! In second is Quatro Cerberus with sixteen points! In third, is White Eclipse A with fourteen points then fourth is Fairy Tail A with thirteen points. Fairy Tail B is fifth with ten points. Sabertooth is surprisingly in sixth with two points, Lamia Scale has one point, and Mermaid Heel is in last with zero points.  
"How embarrassing," Kagura stated.  
"This is a complete failure of a day." Lyon states as Yuka and Toby keep their heads down in shame.  
Chapati Lola takes the mic once again. "That concludes the first day! Who knows what's in store for tomorrow!?"

.

"Okay that was pretty amusing to watch." Kiora states.  
"Oi, we should get the whole bloody guild to come watch this. It's entertainment at it's finest." Maggie commented.  
"I agree." Mithril smirked. "We aren't doing anything right now but waiting for the lacrimas to spread. Seems like a good way to kill time. There's what? Six days? Lets use this as vacation time."  
"It's settled then." Daityas chuckles. "We'll watch the games. I have one task to complete while we're here though."  
"Kuro right?" Kiora asked.  
"Kuro."  
"The bloke seems to be plenty tough now after a year a camp Daityas." Maggie chuckled out. "Seems like you've been holding out on us."  
"You have no idea how much I've been holding out on you all." Daityas replied. "Welp. Lets dip, today's events are over."

.  
"White Eclipse B is in first!" Cygnus yells as he raises his fist in the air in victory. "Even with Kairi on a bad leg we still manage first place!"  
All of White Eclipse was in the bar. Calium sits at the front, facing the guild as they celebrate a decent first day. "I'm up tomorrow!" Takeru.  
"Whoa now, that's a quick jump of the gun eh?" Reve replied.  
"Natsu will try to make up for Gray's horrible performance. This is my time to humiliate him." Takeru clinches a fist as he stands with determination in his eyes.  
"I wonder what the event is tomorrow?" Selene asked.  
"Whatever it is, it's nothing for two /healthy/ White Eclipse mages." Reve says while playfully smirking at Kairi. Kairi huffs as she crosses her arms. "I didn't think it was that bad!" She yelled.  
"Just stay off it." Zain adds in.  
Kai walks over to Skye who was sitting alone, watching everyone with a small smile. "Everything okay Skye?" Kai asked her.  
"Huh? Yeah." Skye replied as she buried her hands in her lap. She then looks up at Reve, who was standing next to Taya and Nami, laughing at something Jack had just said. "I just really wish I could compete. I trained my butt off. With Reve even."  
"Well you are an alternate, Skye. I'm sure if you're patient, you'll have your go. As long as it's before the last day."  
"Hai." Skye nods in agreement, still feeling uneasy about her chances to compete in the games.  
Just then, all of Fairy Tail walk in the bar. Cana was leading the way as the all were conversing, but the entire bar went quiet as both guilds spotted each other. Nothing but glares and sneers were exchanged. This went on until Makarov walked in and sat right beside Calium. As if they were friends, Calium and Makarov exchange smiles as they looked back at their "brats."  
"Seems like they still hate each other." Calium stated.  
Makarov nods, yet smiles. "No need to play innocent Calium, I know you allow them to walk this path."  
"Of course I do Makarov, it's their choice. I'm just here to guide them." "Agreed." Makarov nods again as he takes a swig of his ale he was just handed. "But I do have one question. How much was Adamantine holding back when he struck Gray?"  
Calium chuckles a bit. "You know huh?"  
Makarov puts down his drink as he leans back against the bar. "I'm not telling on you. I have no room too. If he's trying to change and actually enjoys his White Eclipse family, who am I to take that away from him?"  
"You're a very philosophical one Makarov. But your kind heart doesn't change what my brats want, and that's to be number one in Fiore."  
Makarov laughs as everyone turns to the two masters.  
"We'll see Calium. We'll see."

.

The next day, the mages began to prepare to make their way to the arena. Everyone was present and accounted for at the White Eclipse inn. Everyone except...  
"Where's Kuro?" Reve groaned out. "Seriously, you lil shits can't stay still for more than two seconds."  
"Well we're about to be running late." Takeru stated. "We'll have to replace him. "  
"We aren't replacing him." Reve retaliated.  
"You don't have a choice Reve." Taya says as she crosses her arms. "Get an alternate and lets go before we're late."  
Reve let out a sigh of frustration. "Fine. Who wants up?"  
Before anyone could answer, Skye Ravenwood jumps to the front. "Me!"  
"Skye? I don't know.."  
"Reve I can do it! Even if I'm just standing in until Kuro gets back I can do it!" Skye pleaded, her eyes looked as if she was about to tear up.  
"Okay okay...just relax."  
"Thank you!" Skye lunges into Reve, hugging him tightly and nuzzling into him..until her eyes met Taya's.  
"Off." The threatening tone in Taya's voice caused Skye to slowly and cautiously step away from Reve.  
Reve clears his throat. "Right...so lets go before we're late."

.  
"All of Tataros's known mages were on top of a tower with the best seats in the house. Kiora, Maggie, Sora, Ruika, and Tobias were on the edge, exchanging random snacks as they chowed down, waiting for the events to start.  
"Pass some of that Kiora." Maggie said as she leaned over anyways, grabbing a handful of popcorn.  
"Pass me my drink." Kiora demanded as Sora picks it up and hands it to her. She also was chewing on a brownie in the mean time. Ruika grabs a big handful of treats from Tobias as she looks on. "Damn Ruika."  
"Shut up Tobias." She replied  
"Yeah Tobias! Shhh!" Sora said as she kept a finger to her mouth. Kiora pets Sora on the head. "They grow up so fast."  
Behind them was a light green haired male standing with his arms crossed. "This better be good. I could be doing other things."  
"Like what Rugal?" Kiora asked. "You don't have anything to do right now so just watch the show and stop being a Tobias."  
"How's he being me!? I'm not complaining!"  
"Yeah but you usually are."  
Rugal merely shrugs as he backs up a bit, now standing next to Mithril, who towered over him and everyone else. "Whatever, lets just see what's the big deal."  
To the right of the tower, stood Daityas and Kuro. Kuro was leaning against the tower as he waited for the show to start.  
"Your team isn't going to be mad that you ditched today Kuro?" Daityas asked.  
Kuro shrugs. "They don't care about me. If they did, they would know that you guys aren't bad guys."  
"Riiiight." Kiora stretches. Maggie taps her on the back of the head. Kuro looks over at the mages again. "So you guys are starting your own guild huh?"  
"That's our story and we're sticking to it." Kiora says again, basically hinting at the lie, but her tone made it seem like she was just smart mouthed. Maggie slaps her against the head again. "Alright sorry!"  
"That's awesome Dait! It seems like you have some great mages here just by looking at them." They all smirk at the complement. "Do you all have a name and master yet?"  
"We have a master. No name though." Daityas said quickly.  
"Oh, what's his name?" Kuro asked.  
"That's a secret. But there's a way you can find out."  
Kuro cocks a brow at Daityas. "And what's that?"  
"You should join us. After the games of course. You would be a perfect S class fit."  
"S class?" Kuro's eyes widen at the statement. "Wow.."  
"Yeah man, S class and all that jazz. Join us dude." Kiora says with her mouth full of snacks.  
"We wouldn't snap at you like your guildmates do now because we fancy Dait too." Daityas's eye twitches from the nickname. Maggie smirks knowing she got away with it.  
Kuro smiles as he looks down at the arena. "...thanks guys, but they're my family. I owe them my life. But I can't wait for y'all to get started, and maybe we'll see each other in the games next year!"  
While Kuro kept looking out, everyone looked at Daityas, who had a stale face at Kuro. "Are you sure you don't wanna change your mind? It would be in your best interest to."  
Kuro's answer doesn't change. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks again though!"  
"Oh.. Very well. What a shame."  
Daityas lifts his left hand and snaps his fingers. From here nothing happens... "Lets just enjoy the games then."

.

.  
In the snowy mountains, the guild which was being unattended, buried by snow, instantly sparks into hells flames. Within a matter of minutes, support beams fall over and break, and the guild comes crashing down into nothing as the fire slowly burns out from the snow overtime.  
"It's a shame."


	33. Chapter 33

White Eclipse  
Chapter 33

A review of the leader board:  
White Eclipse B: 18  
Quatro Cerberus: 16  
White Eclipse A: 14  
Fairy Tail A: 12  
Fairy Tail B: 10  
Sabertooth: 3  
Lamia Scale: 1  
Mermaid Heel: 0

"Heh. It's a good start." Reve says as White Eclipse A stands in the arena with the rest of the guilds waiting to officially start. He folds his arms and looks directly ahead. His stare was met by none other than Erza Scarlet. Almost mirror like, Erza had her arms folded as she smirked at Reve while staring. Only two points separated them so far, so there was no reason to panic in anyone's eyes, and panic was the furthest thing from their mind.  
"Welcome back! It's the second day of the Grand Magic Games here in Crocus! I'm Chapati Lola and lets cut to the chase! Will today's event competitors please step forward!"  
On cue, Natsu Dragneel steps into the middle of the arena, and just like a mirror, Takeru joins the Fire Dragon slayer, nearly face to face. The two mages never take their eye off each other as Lamia Scale's Chelia Blendy and Mermaid Heel's Kagura join the circle. Next was Quatro Cerberus's own Kuro.  
"I see, Bacchus is still holding out." Erza says as she looks over to their team. Bacchus was standing with his arms crossed and a grin plastered on his face. "I strategy that seems to be working, since they're in second."  
"You're going down Dragneel." Takeru says.  
"No matter what the event it, I'm kicking your ass!" Natsu exclaims.  
Just then, Sabertooth's Sting Eucliffe walks in between them both, bumping into both of them. He then stands there with a grin. "You two are counting us out. It's time to change that."  
"What was that?" Takeru growled. "You're old news. It's our turn."  
"Heh. We'll see." Sting chuckles out.  
Juvia walks to the arena. "Juvia must get revenge for Gray-Sama! This win will be for Gray-Sama! He asked me to win this for him!"  
(Flashback/Fantasy)  
In the Fairy Tail infirmary yesterday, Gray was sitting up in the bed as he held Juvia's hands.  
"Juvia...though my body is weak, my heart still beats strong. Strong for you. Win your event Juvia.. for me, so they'll know that love conquers all."  
"G-Gray-Sama..!" They continue leaning towards each other.  
-The Flash back ends with a bandaged up Gray yelling from the audience. "THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!"  
Finally, from White Eclipse B, Aira steps into the arena middle.  
"Alright! Today's event is... Pandemonium squared!"  
"Pandemonium squared!?" All the mages called out.  
"Wow..lets never do that again." Takeru stated.  
"Aye..I agree." Natsu nodded. "That was weird."  
"Juvia agrees as well."  
A few seconds later, the arena starts to expand out.  
"Nani!? What's going on?" Natsu calls out as the arena shakes from the shift.  
"Don't panic already Natsu." Sting says laughing.  
"Pandemonium squared is just like last year's pandemonium! The only thing that's different is that they're are now eight hundred monsters!"  
"Eight hundred!?" Even Erza was thrown off by such a challenge.  
"I'm taking on all five hundred." Takeru said with an emotionless face.  
"Also!" Chapati continued. "You will all be going at the same time! The rules are simple! The first one to finish off all one hundred of their monsters wins. The rest will fall in under how many monsters you destroyed or when you were KO'ed. There are eight different paths, one mage per path. In each path, the orders of the monsters are varied, which means in one path it's weakest to strongest. In another path it's strongest monster to weakest. And everything in between from there!"  
"Interesting." Kuro stated.  
"I like this game!" Sting shouted.  
Kagura simply nodded, understanding the instructions as Chelia swayed back and forth in her heels and toes a bit nervous.  
"Now that we're clear, will you all line up side by side behind the line as we prepare to start."  
They all oblige. Just then, the stands in front of them opens up, keeping the audience hovered over the ocean as she awed at the view.  
"Aw man!" Kuro Crane cried out as he stood next to Daityas. "If I would of known this I would of competed!"  
"Tough luck kid." Kiora says as she continues to stuff her face with food, watching the arena down below.  
As the giant castle like tower forms at over the ocean, eight staircases appear. They spiral around so much before getting to the castle that you can't tell which path leads to where with a simple glance.  
"Mages ready!?" They all get in a running stance.  
"Go!"  
Simultaneously, they all take off at quick pace. Natsu, Takeru, and Sting lead the pack as they all pick a staircase. Natsu edges out until he looks up and sees Aira use her wind magic to float to path number four, now ahead of everyone. "Hey!"  
"Heh. Smart move Aira." Luke states as Aira enters inside, running down the hallway.  
"Or was it?" Selene questioned. "She's gonna need that magic once she starts fighting.  
Kagura begins to pick up speed as she too passes the Dragon Slayers. Entering path number two from her staircase. The three dragon slayers finally make it as well. Natsu in five, Takeru in one and Sting in path number three.  
Juvia dead sprints into number eight, with Kuro right behind her straight into number six. Chelia brings up the rear as she enters the seventh path.  
"And all mages have entered!" Eight lacrima screens appear, so that the audience can watch who they were rooting for.  
Already in front, Aira began taking out the smaller monsters with her wind magic and hand to hand skills. She used mostly melee attacks to the nearly harmless smaller monsters. Smashing them into nothing with her kicks and punches. She clears the ten in the hallway and keeps running. "I must of got the luck of the draw." As soon as she says that, she turns the corner into a giant room. Aira looked up as she was being towered over the biggest monster in her path. Already she was up against it. "...oh." The giant purple armored beast took the form of a snake. It's coiling took up the entire outside of the giant room. It opened its mouth, firing off a huge beam. With wide eyes, Aira rolls hard out the way, but the beam kept coming towards her. She continues running around until she gained an angle to get under the beam, which she did barely. She then sprinted towards the snake with two magic circles in front of her. "Wind blade!" She fires off two extremely sharp gusts of wind that slice into the armored snake. Though it connected, it barely did any damage as it only left two small gashes into the beast.  
"How did she get stuck with that already!?" Luke exclaimed.  
"This isn't good.." Cygnus added.  
"Believe in her guys! She's fine..." Selene turned back to the screen as she watched on. "Come on Aira you can do it."  
Jaxon nods. "She's got it."  
In door two, Kagura was sprinting down her hallway. Instead of the smaller monsters like Aira had, decent sized, tiger like creatures covered her hallway. Five of them. They all turn to her and begin charging. Kagura simply crouches and in the next instant she was at the end of the hallway re-sheathing her sword that she barely pulled out. All five tiger like monsters go down. Kagura waste no time as she turns the corner entering a giant room. From the ceiling, ten well sized bat like monsters begin swooping down towards Kagura. She uses her gravity manipulation and begins floating towards them. Kicking the first one away, she uses the momentum to grab the one right above the first bat like creature. She reverses the gravity, causing the bat to go plummeting to the ground, slamming into the one below it as well and into the ground, destroying them both. She turns back to the other eight, and with her sheath sword, she slices through the remaining with ease. She then runs through, fifteen monsters quickly down.  
"Sky god's bellow!" Chelia's bellow slams into the seven tiger like monsters, destroying them. She was ten monsters in and came to a stop in her big room. It was /crowded/ with the weak smaller monsters.  
"Field day Chelia!" Lyon shouted even though she couldn't hear him.  
Chelia grins as the monsters hop around not seeing her. She takes a step forward, catching their attention. The small creatures all turn to her and charge. "Sky God's Boreas!" Chelia conjures up to well sized black currents. As she throws them, they combine into one great one. The Boreas swoops around the entire room, destroying all fifty of the small monsters.  
"Nice! She's way in the lead!" Yuka shouted.  
"That may be true...but I don't think we'll see anymore of those things in her path..." Lyon replied.  
"Huh? What are you saying OOOONN!?" Toby asked as he scratched his head.  
"It means, every monster from here on out won't be push overs. Especially if they come in numbers for her." Jura states ominously.  
"Water slicer!" Juvia throws a wave of rushing water that slices right through a ten foot tall armored knight. Three more stood as they charged her. One swings horizontally, but Juvia jumps over it's swing. Now a sitting duck, the knight to the right swings a clubbing blow to Juvia. She hits the wall as she lets out a help of pain. The closest knight swings down a punch, leaving a crater in the floor as Juvia rolls out the way. She then quickly conjures up a whirlpool that catches two of the knights, spinning them and then slamming them through a wall. With one remaining, she turns to the charging knight who swings at her. Using her water body, the punch goes right through her. "Water slicer!" She's uses her technique again, slicing right through the knight. She quickly runs down the next hallway. "Juvia must win! For Gray-Sama's love!"  
"Stop that!"-Gray from the audience.  
Kuro stood in front of his strongest monster. He simply looked up at the giant Wyvern looking monster. "Hm. It'll be nothing but a speed run once I beat this thing." The beast aims a stomp at Kuro, the force could be seen by the wind passing it's foot. Kuro simply puts up a black water dome. Causing the beast to go stumbling back. A magic circle then appears below Kuro Chi as blackened water begins to swirl around the edges as it rises and then connects together at a point, still spinning. "Begone. Water god's drill." He pushes his palm forward, causing the drill from the top to slam down onto the head of the Wyvern. It runs straight through the head and to dispersing against the ground. The giant beast hits the ground and disperses as well. Kuro begins running through to the next room.  
"Oh my..." Chapati announces.  
"He just...Kuro Chi just took out his strongest monster in one blow."  
"Yes Kuro! It's all you now!" Bacchus yells out.  
"Wild!" "Four!"  
Natsu, Takeru and Sting were seen running through their respective hallways, destroying monster after monster. Natsu wing slashes through a couple as Sting fires a holy ray down the hallway. Takeru, with his shadow katanas, begins slashing through monsters with ease. Though Chelia was in first by numbers, the three dragon slayers were quickly catching up.  
"No sign of the big one for Natsu yet." Lucy says while watching on. "I hope it comes soon before he gets too tired."  
"He's fine." Erza replies with a small smile. "All we're worried about it him finishing first. Erza then turns back to Kuro Chi, who was destroying monsters left and right, keeping up with the dragon slayers. "Kuro is going to be the problem...he already destroyed his toughest monster and he's right there with Natsu..."  
"Shit..come on Takeru. You too Aira." Reve watches on, gripping the railing. "They'll do it..." Luke says from the other side.  
Back at Aira, the giant snake swings his tail. Aira avoids it and begins wind blading the snake as she runs up it's body. The snake turns to her and opens her mouth at a close range, firing off a huge beam. Aira's eyes widen. "Wind Wall!" With her magic, a wall of wind appears in front of Aira as she ducks her head. The beam just disperses before the wall gives way. Aira then charges up the snake again and jumps. "Great cross slash." Aira puts her hands in an X formation. Before she could attack, the snake had charged her. And swallows her whole.  
"Aira!" Cygnus and Selene called out.  
"Holy.." Jaxon looked on with wide eyes.  
"Wait for it." Luke stated.  
The snake stays there for a few seconds. Then, out of the tail comes Aira, crouches from performing her attack. The snake begins to break apart into nothing. Aira quickly sprints out and down the hallway as she's defeated her monster, now taking out the other with great confidence.  
"Alright!" Selene fist pumped for her teammate.  
Skye looks on amazed. "Aira is amazing, she let herself get eaten, just to finish the monster.."  
Chelia rounded out to eighty five, when her giant came into view. A giant armored frog stood waiting in a room halfway submerged in water. She didn't hesitate and leaped towards it. But instead of attacking, the frog jumped into the water. Chelia stayed on a pad as she eyed the frog. The room then slowly begins to fill up with wate, all the way to the top. Chelia couldn't pass until she beat this monster and now she was racing against her lungs as well. She couldn't use her bellow since she couldn't inhale so she goes for her Boreas instead, but the frog dodges, moving with agility under water. The frog then stops and opens it's mouth, revealing a tongue. The tongue sprawls out on the floor of the water filled room, and then sparks wildly. The electricity amplifies due to the water and shocks Chelia, causing her to lose air as well.  
"Crap! Hang on Chelia!" Lyon yells.  
"No she's in the lead, it won't be good if she loses here ONNNN!" Toby begins to frantically pace back and forth.  
Chelia snaps away as she can feel her lungs burning. In desperation she uses her wind magic to quickly swim to the giant frog. She catches up and gets under the frog. "..." If she was able to talk underwater, what would of been heard was "Heavenly Gathering of the Clouds!" She fires right into the under belly of the frog, hurling it towards the ceiling of the room, destroying the monster on impact. The room quickly drains of water. Chelia hunches over and catches her breath.  
"She did it! Go Chelia! Run!" Lyon cheers as the others of Lamia Scale sigh in relief.  
"Close one Chelia-dono." Jura thinks to himself.  
Kagura was making great pace until she came to her monster as well. A giant bird flew around a seemingly endlessly tall room. The bird ascended and Kagura quickly gave chase. She hopped from wall to wall until nearly one hundred and fifty feet in the air, she caught up. She went to unsheathe her sword but with a single flap of the wings, the giant bird sends Kagura hurling towards the ground. She recovers halfway down and then uses her gravity this time to float towards the bird. When close enough, the reverses the gravity on the giant bird to slow it down. It had little but just enough affect as Kagura aims for the head with her sheathed sword. She finishes the monster off with unseen slashes all around the bird, breaking it apart.  
Juvia was surrounded. Twenty wolf like monsters, very agile, charged at Juvia. She used her water magic to keep them at bay and take them out one by one. She had taken out about fifteen until one jumps on her back and bites her on the shoulder. She lets out a shriek of pain until she throws it off of her. The other four join in, biting on her legs. The silver wolves crowding her.  
"It's not looking good." Laxus stated.  
"Don't give up just yet." Mirajane replied.  
"Juvia will not lose!" She screamed out as she fires another water slicer into the four wolves. Cutting them into pieces. Juvia had miscounted. She places her hands on her knees as she pants. Before she could take a step forward, the last wolf jumps on her back, biting her on the shoulder again. This time. As it bit down, it glows a bright red light and then explodes.  
"Juvia!" Cana calls out.  
Everyone waits for the smoke to clear, and when it does, Juvia was standing.  
"Wow, what endurance." Reve says.  
Juvia takes a step forward...and then passes out in a KO. "Oh my! Juvia was the first to go! Which means Fairy Tail B ends with zero points! What a set back!"  
"Darn it!" Gajeel yelled out. The monsters in Juvia's path all disperse as the medical team goes to retrieve her.  
"Well..she tried." Mirajane stated.  
"We're gonna fall way behind." Laxus stated.  
"Juvia..." Gray looked on with a worried look.  
As they were finishing up, Natsu, Takeru, and Sting had one thing in common. Though they're monsters came in various ways, all three of then could feel that the biggest one was at the end.  
Chelia and Aira at this time, due to Chelia being stalled by the frog, were tied at ninety nine. They both were also in the same predicament. They walked into their own rooms at the same time, Chelia literally one step ahead of Aira. In this room was a lone monster. A small one, just like the fifty Chelia destroyed earlier. "Too easy! Finish it Chelia/Aira!" Lyon and Jack both yell at the same time. Aira and Chelia take a step forward, and when they do, the creatures take off like a rocket, bouncing around the room away from their mages. "Holy..!" Luke watched as the incredibly fast monster ran from it's mage.  
"That won't stop me!" Aira charges after it, firing off wind blades, trying to hit the fast moving target.  
"Right! Lets go!" Chelia does the same in her room, firing off black winds at the target. Both of them continuously missing.  
"This is close!" Chapati yells. "Aira and Wendy are facing off on their last monster already! But here comes the others! Everyone is on Ninety mine!" Because of this, an announcement echoed throughout the arena and inside the tower. "Attention-Kabo! Everyone is on their last monster. So the rules have changed a bit. Instead of ending the challenge once a mage defeats their last monster, everyone must finish their last one. The ranking will go by who finishes first to last. That is all-Kabo!"  
"Darn it!" Aira pants as her monster continues bouncing around the room. She continues chasing and firing away. Chelia does the same, slowly panicking from the announcemt.  
Natsu, Takeru, and Sting; they all ran forward down their own hallways. To the end of the hall was a giant opening where their last monster awaited. Great fighting minds thought alike as Sting enters White Drive, Natsu enters his lightning flame mode and Takeru enters his White Shadow mode. All three of them picking up speed as they made a beeline to the beasts that stood in their way of victory. Here they went.  
Natsu, without losing a step, crouches and lunges full speed head first. "Lightning flame sword horn!" Sting comes to a stop, and at the same speed cups his hands together in front of him and fires off a multitude of full powered rays. "Holy ray!"  
Takeru was in a sprint as well and halfway to the beast he jumps forward and fires a high powered funnel of white and shadows, taking up nearly the entire room. The monsters were destroyed nearly af the same time. The bell goes off. "Oh my it was close!" Chapati yells. Another lacrima screen comes down in the middle, ready to show the winner. "But the lacrima never lies, and your winner is... Kagura of Mermaid Heel!  
"What!?" Lucy yells.  
"Tch. I wasn't even paying attention to her at the end." Erza commented. As the replay shows, before anyone else made contact, right before, Kagura had sliced though her last monster so swiftly that no one noticed. "That gives Mermaid Heel ten points! This was the closest match ever. Everyone literally finished within the same second! But in second place is.. Kuro Chi!"  
Takeru grabs his hair in shock and confusion. "I could of sworn...!" Replay shows that right after Kagura, Kuro had fired a water god's bellow right into his respective monster, putting a gaping hole right through it for an instant kill.  
"What is this!?" Natsu freaks.  
"This is nerve wrecking.." Sting says.  
"And in third place, giving his team six points is... Sting Eucliffe!" Still a bit upset, Sting manages a small smirk. "Well, I beat Natsu-San and Takeru. That works for me."  
"Next giving their team four points is Natsu Dragneel!" Takeru immediately drops his head. "I..."  
"Takeru of White Eclipse A comes in fifth, giving his team three points!"  
Takeru stayed speechless for a bit, but then clenches his fist. "I will make up for this..!"  
Aira and Chelia wait patiently, both already feeling bad for falling down so far. "With two points...Chelia Blendy!" Chelia couldn't really celebrate but she was happy she wasn't last. Aira on the other hand slides down against the wall and buries her head in her knees.  
"Aira..." Selene calls out in a sympathetic tone.  
"One point.." Aira said to herself. "I was ahead of everyone, and one point, because my aim is bad." She began to find any and every excuse to blame herself.  
"Alright!" Chapati shouts. "As we take a short break for the arena to revert back to normal I'll announce the first fight! It'll be... Fairy Tail A's Erza Scarlet!"  
"Right." Erza nods as the crowd erupts in a frenzy of cheers. "I love watching her fight!"  
"I hope she gets Kagura! "  
"No, get Bacchus!"  
Chapati continues. "Vs...White Eclipse A's.." Reve immediately crossed his fingers to himself, praying that he would be going up against Erza. It was the main thing he wanted. "Come on.."  
Chapati quits holding in the suspense. "Skye Ravenwood!"  
"SKYE!?" Everyone on the A team says in unison.  
Skye blinks. "M-me?"  
"Both fighters have five minutes to prepare."

.

At the council headquarters, a familiar face has been escorted to the council circle.  
"Siegrain!" Gran Doma calls out. "How are you...!?"  
"Long story Doma. But I'm here..and it's time for change, again. Starting with me back in the council circle." Siegrain smirks as he looks at the other councilmen.  
"If you think we'd let you back in here-"  
"Ah but you don't have much of a choice." Siegrain says as he walks to the middle with his hands behind his back. "You see, let me explain the loophole to the /crime/ I committed. I was once a thought projection of the criminal Jellal Fernandes. I was created from his motives to revive Zeref; and as a thought projection, I was nothing but Jellal with a different name. The same Jellal you were all after and captured am I correct? Even though he got away again? I believe so. Anyways, since I technically didn't exist and even if I did, I was under motives of a criminal and now no longer am, I've made my case of how am innocent. You remember what that means for a councilmen right Doma? That means he or she should be rightfully allowed to have his position back."  
"Tch! Even so, we also have a rule where we can make exceptions to other rules with a house vote!" Doma added.  
"Ah that's true!" Siegrain said with a grin. "But you're also forgetting another rule. You're forgetting that you're the one that placed the charges on Jellal and I. You're the one that sent the guards after us both. And even though you had Jellal right, I was innocent. And you know what happens when the chairman makes a false arrest call don't you Doma?" Doma's eyes immediately widen at what was about to come next as guards surround the room. "That's right Doma, the lead chair gets impeached. For, and I quote. The lead chair position is proof that the person holding such a title makes no mistakes when upholding the law and if proven wrong will have no issue stepping down. So guards. Get this man out my seat."  
The council guards surround Gran Doma as he puts his hands up in surrender. He could easily take them out, but decides to follow. "This isn't over Siegrain." He says as he's escorted out.  
"Oh I know Doma. I'm just getting started." Siegrain turns to the other councilmen.  
"Guess what. You're all fired. Guards!"

.

"Good luck to you, Skye." Erza nods as she waits for the host give the okay to start.  
Skye couldn't even hear her. She was breathing short panicking breathes. "I can do this. I...can't do this. No! Remember your training! Don't let Reve down! You can do this Skye!" Her hands shook from fear. "But...if Reve wants Erza so bad that means she's up there with him...I'm not there yet."  
"Fighters ready-Kabo!"  
"No!" Skye yells out.  
"Huh?" Erza looks on, but then folds her arms and smirks a bit. "Seems like she's nervous."  
"You alright-Kabo?"  
Skye shakes a bit more.  
"Hey!" Reve calls out to Skye, causing her to turn around.  
"I didn't waste all those days helping you for you to chicken out and act scared in front of thousands! Now out your game face on or take off that White Eclipse symbol! We may be family but one thing we don't raise are cowards! She isn't better than you, and you know why!? You're a White Eclipse Mage! So act like it! Because it's White Eclipse or what Skye!?"  
Skye gulps a bit but her shaking stops. "Or second place.."  
"The hell was that!?" Reve yells again. "Don't make me come over there I said it's White Eclipse or what!?"  
She clenches a her fist by her side as she shouts into the air. "OR SECOND PLACE!" The crowd erupts into a frenzy again, half of them cheering for the underdog Skye while the other half for Erza.  
"Come on Skye." Kuro says to himself, still standing with Tartaros.  
"I'm ready!" Skye calls out to the host, not taking her eyes off Erza.  
"Okay-kabo!"

The host throws his hands down.

"Begin!"


	34. Chapter 34

White Eclipse  
Chapter 34

(Flashback.)  
"Okay, you remember all the tips I've told you right? Reve asks. He and Skye were standing across from each other. Skye was standing up right as if she was in a boot camp.  
"Hai!" She yelled out. Reve chuckles at how she was acting. He found it funny that she was dead serious standing and reacting the way she was right now. "And they are?" He asked.  
"Requip only when necessary! Multiple requips are a waste of magic if there's no plan behind it! Take advantage of any opening! Trust your first decisions because the second ones could be your last!"  
"Heh alright alright at ease soldier."  
"Sorry." She sighed out. "I'm just nervous.. I wanna get picked. I wanna compete."  
Reve smirks. "Even if you aren't picked first, I'm sure you'll be a sure in for an alternate. But either way don't sweat it kid, your time will come."  
Skye nods, not hearing the exact answer she wanted, but she respected him for telling her the truth. "Thanks Reve, I'll keep training hard."  
"Yeah yeah, inspiration all around, now come at me and lets get started."  
"Hai!"  
(End Flashback.)  
"Begin!"  
"Alright Claymore! Lets show them what we got." As she speaks, Skye pulls out her claymore sword from behind her. She was now holding what seemed like a normal sword.  
"Kanso!" Erza glows a bright golden light. She then appears out of her team uniform and into her normal outfit. The chest plated armor with the long skirt. She also held a single sword and pointed at Skye. "You're move."  
"Gladly!" Skye rushes at Erza, gripping her sword tighter. Skye then begins swinging a combination of slashes, alternating between horizontal and vertical slashes. Erza parries and dodges them all. On a vertical swing from Skye, Erza spins right, away from the swing and swings a horizontal slice of her own. Skye managed to block the strike as she turned her sword sideways to take the blunt of the sword. As she slides back a bit, Skye plants her feet and then raises her right leg for a kick. Unfortunately for her, Erza catches her left and quickly goes for a leg sweep, knocking Skye off her feet as she lands on the ground back first. Erza goes for a stab but Skye rolls out the way, leaving Erza's sword stuck in the ground. Skye goes to counter with an over head slash, but Erza quickly creates a magic circle as she pulls out a much bigger sword than her previous one. Though it looked heavy, she managed to hold it with one hand easily as she places the sword over her head horizontally, blocking Skye's attack. She then pushes off with the sword, the force sending Skye sliding back into the ground until she lets her Claymore disappear. "Biofrost!" A ring-blade which resembles a hula hoop, comprised of two rings appears in her right Hand. The decorative inner ring is made out of stained glass, its melange of colors reminiscent of a rainbow. While the outer ring is significantly sharper, silver, and surrounds the edge of the inner ring. Its blades shaped like sleek, stylized wings. Skye then rears her arm back and throws the circular blade. Taken off guard, Erza barely ducks as the ring blade makes it way around and back to Skye. Erza pulls out another giant sword from a magic circle and attacks Skye, dancing with her swords to keep momentum. Though the Biofrost was small, Skye was doing a great job parrying the giant blades that Erza swung with, even though Erza had her on her heels. Skye parries Erza's right sword and spins inside, hitting Titania with an elbow to the nose, causing her to stumble back. "Opening!" Reve yelled, and without hesitation, Skye slams a high kick to Erza's chin, sending her a bit into the air. Erza quickly recovers into a flip, staring down Skye as the crowd begins to cheer. What once looked like an easy win for Fairy Tail, was turning into a sword fight of the ages.  
"Hmph." Erza smirks as her body begins to glow golden. "I guess warm ups are over." Erza reappears in her Flight armor, now carrying one cone shaped sword. "Careful." Skye says to herself. Erza takes off at an amazing speed, slashing at Skye each time she passes her. At first, Skye gets in a few lucky parries, but around the third time, she feels the sharp pains of Erza's sword slicing into her, leaving cuts against her stomach and side, and one even in her left arm.  
"She's in trouble." Takeru stated.  
"She's fine." Reve argued.  
Erza keeps up her onslaught until Skye clenches her teeth together and finally sways away from a strike instead of trying to block. The second Erza goes running by Skye, Skye throws her BioFrost again, aiming right for the incredibly fast Erza. This threw Erza off guard as she was just turning around. She barely saw the ring coming and put up her sword to parry it. The ring goes flying into the air, and as if she was predicting it to do so, Skye was now in the air as well. She catches the ring blade and dives bombs right for Erza. "Claymore!" Her ring blade glows and the switches back to her primary sword as she nears Erza. She swings down at Erza, but Scarlet moves out the way with a long side flip. Skye had swung so hard that a trail of wind went on for a bit until it dispersed. Skye quickly turns back to Erza as Erza began to glow again. This time she appeared in her Fire Empress armor. Her sword started to let of flames as she stood ready.  
"Now it's getting Wild!" Bacchus yells.  
"Yeah you better take her serious!" Reve yells from the side.  
Erza ignores his comment and charges Skye, flying low to the ground. Skye holds her position, holding her sword near her right ear as it pointed at Erza. As Erza rears back, Skye slowly spins and with timing, flips her sword around to where the handle was now facing her incoming target. With momentum from the spin, she swings a spinning horizontal strike. It clangs with the flame sword in Erza's hands for a stalemate, except, the flames in Erza's sword begin to flare out around Skye, making it hot. Sky releases the stalemate after getting annoyed from the heat, but Erza doesn't let up as she continues slashing at Skye, the flames flaring out every time Skye parries. She parries one more but was then caught by a kick from Erza, her foot slamming into Skye's jaw. Skye goes tumbling in the ground but pops up after regaining herself. "... Silent edge." Her claymore glows again, and turns into two short blades. She twirls them in her hands but they don't make a single sound against the wind. Skye charges what seems like a reckless sprint towards Erza. She even feigns a trip. Erza notices and takes this as desperation from the girl. Skye's acting was marvelous as Erza gives a lazy vertical swing with her flaming sword. With her left hand, Skye blocks it. She endures the near unbearable heat long enough to launch her right short blade right into Erza's left thigh. The entire blade was in. "Gahh!" Erza let out a long yelp of pain as the blade retracts to Skye's hand. She quickly throws it at Erza's other leg. Titania dodges but the blade still scrapes her leg, leaving a small cut on her right thigh. Erza touches down and can already feel the effects of the giant gash on her leg.  
"Every opening Skye!" Reve coached. "Every one!"  
All cards were on the table for Erza now. Instead of the flashy golden light transformation, she quickly requips into her purgatory armor. She carried the same giant black mace. Still, Skye stayed ready, crouched a bit as she stood in a peculiar stance with her two blades. She stood with her arms sort of crossed in a way. Her right arm hiding her face, and her left hiding her chest.  
"Hm?" Sidney looks on.  
"You see it to huh?" Calium asked.  
"I thought it was my imagination. Skye's past is starting to come together."  
"Now lets not jump to conclusions Sidney." Calium says with a smile; a joking smile knowing that what he was thinking was correct. "Just because she's in an assassin's stance doesn't mean anything right?"  
"You're not even fooling yourself master."  
(FlashBack)  
Skye stood on the balcony on the second floor. Reve was right behind her. She was the first to do the White Eclipse tradition for the new members. She stood on the railing as she faced out into the snowy horizon.  
"My name is Skye Ravenwood! I use blade requip magic! I don't remember why I became a mage. In fact, I don't remember how either. I came to White Eclipse because I want to become stronger! Only way to do that is to train with the best!"  
"You don't know anything about your past?" Luke asks as he and the others were outside in the snow looking up.  
Skye shakes her head. "Nope, just woke up one day with nothing but my name and magic."  
"Well that's nice and all but-" Reve pushes Skye off the railing and into the snow. "Welcome to the guild."  
Skye stays laid in the snow dizzy, but she smiles into try sky. "I can't wait to start."  
(End flashback.)  
"So what, you think she has amnesia? Or did whoever she work for wipe her memory clean?" Sidney questioned.  
"Good question Sidney. But for now, lets let it be."  
Skye and Erza stood off until Erza charged her. She swung down the heavy mace. Skye slides out the way and the mace slams into the ground, leaving a giant crack in the ground. Knowing where Skye was, Erza then swings a blind, spinning horizontal swing of the mace. Skye, seemingly disappears from the swing. She then appeared standing on top of the mace with the smallest of smirks. "Agile..!" Reve gasps out as he watches. Sidney and Calium merely look at each other and then back at the fight.  
"Come on Erza!" Lucy yells.  
"Keep your head in it girl!" Makarov yells from the stands.  
"For some reason, that Skye girl does have Erza off her game." Levy states.  
"She's an assassin." Mavis says as she continues watching with a smile.  
"And assassin!?" Makarov says in a bit of shock.  
"Probably a formal one. But you can tell by her stance and fighting style. And her two weapons she requiped seemed to have been made for assassins as well. I'd put my jewel on the fact that she used to be one."  
"Hm." Makarov turns back to the fight, now watching with intent and worry.  
Erza quickly requips into her Robe of Yūen. Now in her purple kimono, she held a staff like weapon with a curved blade at the end. Her whole demeanor has changed though you couldn't tell. She crouched in a stance with her weapon under her arm. Skye lunges for Erza this time, throwing stabs and swings with her short blades. Erza easily parries them and in one big turn, lands a hard smack with the pole of her staff against Skye's head, snapping her head to the right. Knocked for a loop, Skye turns back into Erza, now eating a high kick right into the chin, strong enough to send Skye flying into the air. In mid flip, the groggy Skye sees Erza give chase and swing down the blade of her weapon. Skye blocks with both blades but it only leaves her open, and Erza makes her pay with a spinning kick to the gut. Skye hits the ground hard, not moving for a bit, long enough for the host to walk over and see if she's unable to continue. Erza lands on the ground as well. "Get up."  
Before the host could raise his hand, Skye makes it to one knee. "D-don't tell me..what to do..!" She struggles to her feet and pants heavily. Erza breathes heavy as well but not as nearly as much as Skye.  
"Come on!" Reve yells as the crowd cheers at the stand off again. "You can do this! She's tired to! You still have tricks up your sleeve!"  
"I do..." Skye stands back up straight. "Necrosis!" Just then, her two small blades turn into one long scythe. At the tip of the scythe, a purple liquid continuously dripped like a single water drop. Dripping endlessly. Erza squints her eyes. "Poison?"  
"Skye what is that?" Reve calls out.  
"I...I don't know. But for some reason...it feels right." Skye stayed glaring at Erza. She then points her scythe at her. "This ends here! Time is running low and White Eclipse doesn't do ties!"  
Erza smirks, and she requips as well. Nothing covers her torso except the bandages over her breasts. Her red pants dawned an orange design at the ankles. She held two swords and stood sideways, pointing her left sword at Skye. "It's been fun, and you're a great fighter, but I agree. It's time for /me/ to end this."  
They charge each other quickly, meeting in the middle. Erza swings a one two combination, leading with the right sword. Spinning her scythe, she blocks both attacks as she spins herself to the left of Erza. She then quickly reaches a palm out as a small magic circle quickly forms, shooting blue lightning at Erza. It shocks her, and though it doesn't do much damage, Erza was temporarily paralyzed.  
"Tch! Blue lightning. She can't move." Laxus stated.  
"Oh no, Erza!" Cana yells out.  
"G-gah!" Erza slowly struggles free from the effects of the lightning. Skye leaps and swings down the scythe, but Erza recover in time to block with her right sword. She then swings with her left one,  
But Skye abandons her scythe for a brief second as she hops down, ducking under the slice. She then leaps with a roaring uppercut, slamming into Erza's chin. Titania goes flipping backwards and his the ground back first, tumbling. "Finish her!" As Reve and the others yell, Skye Ravenwood begins spinning her scythe by her right side. The tip of it begins glowing purple as it spins. She breathes heavy, about to collapse due to lack of magic.  
"Not...happening..." Erza uses her swords to raise to her feet. "If you think, I'm gonna lose here...to White...Eclipse. You're greatly mistaken...!"  
"Erza!" Natsu screams out.  
"You can do it Erza!" Lucy screamed out. The rest of Fairy Tail begins chanting for her as well.  
"Not with my family behind me.."  
"My family is with me too." Skye replies as she winces.  
"Lets to Skye!" Jack yells out.  
"She's done Skye! Finish her!" Reve joins in. Then the rest of White Eclipse.  
"Here we go then!" They both yell, and with one final push, they charge each other and slice past each other. With their backs to each other they both stand in their finishing poses after the slice, until a slash appears across Erza stomach. She lets out a scream as blood spill from the gash. She stumbles around and around as Skye has yet to move a muscle. Erza stabs her two swords in the ground to keep balance. At this time, Skye turns to Erza. "Heh." Before she could do anything, her eyes widen as she begins to fall backwards, an X mark appears on her stomach and she hits the ground in KO.  
"Skye is unable to continue-Kabo!" The host yells. "Erza wins!"  
"Oh my what a fight!" Chapati yells.  
"But Erza Scarlet wins, giving Fairy Tail A ten points!  
"I knew she could do it!" Lucy yells in excitement.  
"Hai!" Wendy cheers as she dances with Elfman.  
"Now that was a man!"  
Skye turned over and looked up to the sky. With tears now running down her face, she covers her face with her hands and sobs at her defeat. "I had her.."  
She continued. Reve walks over and crouches down with a smile. "Hey.."  
"I'm so sorry! I should of let Heather, or Waiston or someone else-"  
Reve cuts her off. "Stop that. That was amazing. You did a great job." He reached his hand out to help her up, giving her a genuine smile. "We're all proud of you. You took her to the limit. And we still have a long way to go in the games.  
Skye uncovers her eyes and sniffles. She then nods at Reve's words and grabs his hand to pull up. Reve helps carry her off as she limps. Half of the crowd roars at her effort, the other half cheering for Erza's victory.  
"Reve.." Skye mutters.  
"What is it Skye." He replies.  
"...Thanks."

.  
"Next up, it's Kagura from Mermaid Heel! Vs. Rocker from Quatro Cerberus."  
Quatro Cerberus all shake.  
"Okay Rocker.. lets get...! Lets go for a tie!" Bacchus says.  
"I should be fighting Kagura!" Kuro exclaims. I owe her since she thinks she's faster than me from that event!  
Rocker ducks his head. "No.. I can do this! I'll win! We're up in rankings and we'll stay there! WILD!"  
"...you know what!? FOUR!" Blues shouts."  
Kagura stands there waiting, her hand gripped on her sword.  
"Fighters ready-Kabo? Begin!"  
Rocker's lower body begins spinning like a whirlpool as he charges Kagura. "Here I co-"  
Kagura instantly ends up on the other side of Rocker with her sheathed sword still at her hip. Rocker falls helplessly to the ground, KO'ed.  
"That was less than three seconds..." Millianna stated.  
"Kagura really scares me sometimes.." Risley added.  
"Mhm.." Beth and Araña both nod in agreement.  
"K-Kabo!? Your winner is Kagura!"  
"...I...the entire crowd is speechless." Chapati announces.  
"Kagura... She's improved so much." Erza says to herself. "She a lot quicker than when we fought those Wyverns.."  
"Nani!?" Natsu blinks, then rubs his eyes. "That was fast!"  
"Kagura sure has become scary." Wendy says as she shuffles her feet a bit in fear.  
Kagura merely walks back to her team as they congratulate her.  
"Don't thank me for such a tedious task."  
Lahar, still shocked, blinks a few times before Doranbolt taps him on the shoulder and whispers in his ear.  
"What!?"  
Chapati and Yajima look over at the surprised captain.  
"Sorry, something came up, please excuse me." Lahar gets up and walks out with Doranbolt, eventually phasing out due to Doranbolt using his magic.  
"Anyways! Lets go! Who's next!?" Natsu shouts.  
"Up next we have Lamia Scale's Lyon Vastia vs. White Eclipse B's Luke Cloud!"  
"Alright." Luke walks to the middle, now standing across from Lyon.  
"It's time for Lamia's comeback." Lyon preaches.

.

Siegrain was sitting alone in his office. A smirk comes across his face as Doranbolt and Lahar appear in his office through Doranbolt's magic.  
"What took you two so long?" Siegrain asked with a smirk.  
"What did you do..? How are you alive?"  
"One question at a time Lahar." Siegrain spins in his chair and then stands.  
"Now boys, we can do this the easy way, and you can continue with your jobs by following my orders, or I can fire you on the spot like I did the entire circle. I have no problem hiring more capable people to help me keep peace in Fiore."  
"Keep peace?! You caused chaos!" Doranbolt shouted.  
"That wasn't on me Doranbolt. That was Jellal's doing. I'm my own person now. Look at me." Siegrain walks to them both, now standing inches away. "We have dark guilds to take care of. And I may have a lead to Tartaros."  
"Tartaros!?" Lahar's mind flashes back to the attack he and Doranbolt suffered by those mages.  
"Yes. Now, will you two join me? Will you both help me in their defeat before it's too late? Or will you walk out of here with your pride and no job like the others?"

"Well..." Doranbolt hesitates.

"It looks like...

We have no choice..."


	35. Chapter 35

White Eclipse  
Chapter 35

"Come on Luke kick his ass!" Waiston yells out. He waves his arms franctically as he was almost over the railing. Zalen was keeping him from falling as he gave an embarrassing look. "Oh Waiston...your hate for other ice mages is.."  
"Begin-Kabo!" The host yells as he throws his hands down. Lyon smirks as he continues standing. "You're about to see the ability of an ice make Mage." As he boasted, a hoard of ice lances slam into Lyon as he lets out a groan of pain. He goes sliding on his rear in the ground until he comes to a stop. He looks up at Luke in shock as the copy cat Mage mocks Lyon's previous stance. "Like that?" Luke asked with a grin.  
Lyon stood back up and dusted himself off. "So you've copied Gray's magic huh? I've read about your magic, I just didn't know you got to Gray so easily. Should of been expected from the lesser pupil of Ur though."  
"I don't care who's the better pupil. I'm here to win this match." Luke interrupted.  
"Fine then lets go." Lyon gets in position, slamming his fist over his palm. "Ice make: eagle!" A total of five birds made of ice begins flying toward Luke. Luke quickly cups his hands as an orb of fire from each hand grows and combines into one giant one. "Dazzling blaze, of the Fire Dragon!" He launches it right through the eagles and at Lyon, who rolls hard out the way just in time. "Dragneel too!?"  
On the side, Natsu was seething as he looked on. His glare never left Luke.  
"Natsu.." Lucy looked over at the upset dragon slayer but didn't say another word after.  
"Ice make: Snow Tiger!" Lyon manifests a giant tiger out of ice. It charges and claws at Luke quickly, slashing Luke across he chest. Luke goes sliding back while wincing. The tiger gives chase but when it slams another paw down, Luke rolls to under the iced tiger. Sparks begin to cover his right fist. He then slams a roaring lightning infused punch to the underbelly of the tiger, shattering it to pieces. Everyone looks at Laxus as he does so. Laxus merely continues looking on with his arms crossed. Inside he was livid. Luke takes off toward Lyon with his fist reared back, he swing a right hook but Lyon sways hard to the right to dodge it, and the slams a kick to Luke's side. Luke hunches to the side, leaving an opening as Lyon hits the copy cat with two hooks, right and then left. Luke goes stumbling back. Lyon takes this chance for another opening. "Ice make: wolf!" Just then, a wolf's head was created around both of Lyon's fists. He smashes his right against Luke's jaw and the copy Mage goes sliding into the ground before kipping up. Lyon gives chase and now swings an uppercut, but Luke dodges by leaning away from it. The second he does, he summons a magic circle as sparks fly around him again. "Raging Bolt!" A large bolt of lightning comes down from the sky, shocking Lyon, causing a lot of damage. Since he was so close, Luke adds on to the combo with a hard right haymaker to Lyon's face. Lyon goes crashing towards the ground.  
"This is annoying!" Natsu yelled out. "Get your own magic!"  
Luke smirks as he looks back at Natsu. "But this is much more fun." He then turns to Laxus who was also glaring. "It doesn't matter what you say, I'm a copy cat and proud! Let me show you!" Luke turns to a injured Lyon who was making his way to his feet, in ice make position. "Ice make: Ape! Serpent! Snow tiger!" All three of the ice animals appear and stand beside Lyon.  
"Heh... Thank Laxus for this one!" Luke places both hands in a peculiar position. His left hand was upside down, his right hand was normal as they were inches away from each other.  
"WHAT!?" Makarov yelled out.  
"You bastard!" Even Laxus roared from this.  
"Don't do it Luke!" Lucy yelled.  
"Do it Luke!" Reve yelled back.  
Luke gave a near sadistic look towards Lyon, who was lost at what everyone was freaking out about, but still remained poised.  
"I'm not giving you a three count though." Luke smirked as a golden light began to glow between his hands. "Attack him!" Lyon threw his hand forward as they all rushed Luke.  
"Fairy...Law!"  
"Stop!" Laxus yelled out, but it was too late. A giant golden magic circle appeared above the stadium as Luke fires. Everything went in a blinding light.  
"No!" Natsu yells out as he was blinded just like everyone else.  
"Lyon-Dono!" Jura yells, not being able to see his comrade.  
As the light clears...nothing happened. Lyon was perfectly fine. He looked around in confusion, looking for any scratches or bruised from the attack, but nothing. Even his ice make beasts were still intact.  
"What happened!?" Luke yells out the question, still seeing Lyon okay. He had no time to react as the Snow Tiger headbutts Luke into the wall. The tiger moves out the way as the Ape slams a right fist to the wall and Luke. "Gah!" The ape then tosses the copy mage into the air. The serpent makes it's way above Luke and slams him into the ground, causing a cloud of dust to go flying, covering Luke where he landed.  
Makarov let out a hearty laugh as everyone but Laxus turns to him intrigued. "Fairy Law only works on your true enemies! You don't have any real issues with anyone here, so you basically just wasted nearly all of your magic for a light show!"  
"He's done anyway." Lyon states as the host gets ready to raise his hand to call the match. Just then, Luke struggles up to his feet. "Not yet...that was my mistake. But I'm not gonna let it cost me..."  
Lyon raised a brow as he looked on at Luke. "Fine, finish him off!"  
The ice beasts charge Luke again, and after swaying a few times, Luke charges them as well. He runs right for Lyon. The snow tiger slams down a paw, but Luke dodges it by swaying to the right. As he ran past the snow tiger it gives chase as Luke comes up to the ape. The ape swings another hard fist, but at the last second, Luke baseball slides between it's legs, causing the ape to hit the snow tiger, shattering it's arm and the tiger completely. "What!?" Lyon looks on. "He thinks he can just run by my ice make!? I don't think so!" Lyon slams his fist into his palm again. "Ice make: Eagle!" He fires off about ten more iced eagles as they charge Luke right behind the serpent. Luke jumps over the serpent and ran down it's tail as he charged Lyon. His body began to erupt in flames as he did so. "Fire Dragon sword horn!" At the end of the serpent's tail he leaps forward aiming a flaming headbutt at Lyon. "Uh!" All in one slow motion, Lyon barely dodges by swaying to the right. "Heh..."  
"Now!" Luke shouted as he was in mid air upside down; too close for Lyon to properly dodge this time. "Ice make: thunder cannon!"  
"Huh?" Laxus looks on in confusion. Luke fires the cannon made of ice, and comes shooting a ball of ice wrapped in electric sparks. It slams into Lyon's gut and sends him flying until he tumbles into the ground not moving. Luke comes to a sliding stop due to recoil, now on one knee.  
"Did he just combine magic!?" Romeo yelled from the stands.  
"He's his own unison raid." Mirajane stated as all eyes were on Luke. "He can be real dangerous if he gets his hands on more magic.  
"Lyon is unable to continue-Kabo!" The host yells.  
"That means Luke wins it for White Eclipse B!" Chapati yells. "What a great battle!"  
"We just can't get out the starting gate.." Jura says.  
"Our final fight is at hand! It's Sabertooth's Orga Nangear! Vs. Fairy Tail B's Mirajane Strauss!"  
"Go Mira!" Lisanna yells from the stands.  
"Come on Orga! Help us out!" Rufus yells.  
"Fighters ready!?  
Begin!"  
Mirajane's body begins to glow as she turns to her satan soul form. Orga stands ready as well. They both charge each other and engage in hand to hand combat. Mirajane gets the better of Orga after dodging and blocking most of his black lightning infused punches. She slams a couple of jabs into Orga's face, following a kick to the sternum and a hook to the jaw that sends Orga sliding. He comes to a stop as he winces and wipes his jaw.  
"Mira is always strong." Cana says as she watches. "But...I never see her train."  
"Think if she did." Laxus stated.  
"I'm glad she doesn't. It's bad enough trying to stay up and ahead of Laxus and Erza. And they train." Gajeel nods at his own words.  
"That all you got!" Orga yells as he raises his hand. Mirajane's eyes perk up as she knew what was coming next from watching him last year. She immediately takes off into the air, just barely dodging the lightning dome. She then swoops down and charges at Orga with a fist reared back, but Orga beats her to the punch as he lands a lightning infused hook to her right jaw. Mirajane tumbles in the air but quickly recovers as Orga cups his hands nearly together.  
"Black lightning cannon!"  
"Evil explosion!"  
Mirajane charges and fires her attack as well. The two collide and create a cloud of smoke, except Mirajane's evil explosion pushes through and slams into Orga, causing the god slayer to slam into a wall and K.O'ed.  
"That was quick even for Mirajane." Jack says as he lifts a bottle of wine to his mouth.  
"Orga is unable to continue. Mirajane wins-Kabo!"  
"Wow! A very short yet exciting fight as Mirajane picks up the win for Fairy tail B! That ends day two and the standings are as shown!" The rankings appear as Chapati calls them out. "To end the second day, in first is White Eclipse B with twenty nine points! Next is Fairy Tail team A with twenty six points! In third place is Quatro Cerberus with twenty four points! In fourth place after a great second day showing is Mermaid Heel with twenty points! Fairy Tail B is also tied in fourth with twenty points! In sixth is White Eclipse A with seventeen! Surprisingly, Sabertooth is in seventh with nine and Lamia Scale with three! Lets all get a good nights rest and day three will begin tomorrow afternoon!"

.  
"We're in trouble." Cana stated as she swung a beer mug around. "Juvia is down. We don't have a suitable replacement." All of the background mages duck their head in disappointment from her blunt comment.  
"Hey now!" Freed says as he steps up. If anyone needs to fill in it should be either me Bickslow or Evergreen. We can do it easily!" Cana waves a hand dismissively as she begins drinking. "Hold on Freed!" Max steps into view. "Me and my sand magic will take the spot."  
"None of you will." Laxus walks in with his arms crossed.  
"Laxus!? Then who will?" Freed asked.  
Laxus points behind him." This guy.  
Master Makarov walks in at that second as everyone looks on confused. "Master can't compete it's against the rules." Cana scoffed.  
"Not me." Makarov replied. He then moves out the doorway as "Mystogan" walks through the door. "This guy!"  
"Jellal!?" Erza exclaimed in confusion.  
Jellal gives a slight wave to the stunned guild.  
Erza was stuck between happy and shocked to see the Mage. "M-master this will never work. What about the council?"  
"Lahar and Doranbolt left, not that they were on my case anyways." Jellal replied.  
"Lets cut to it Jellal. Why are you here?" Erza looked at him intently, waiting to call him out on a lie.  
"Erza... I won't lie to you. Something bad has happened, but I can't discuss it or bad things will happen to Meredy."  
"Meredy?!" Erza's eyes widened.  
"Yes but lets please leave it at that. I won't you all to win, so focus on the games. I can handle this problem alone. I just needed to get close to the games again."  
"Alright then!" Makarov interrupted. "No more questions! Lets focus on these last three days and bring him the title again!"

.

.  
Back at the White Eclipse inn. Everyone sat around enjoying the company. Until Kuro walks in.  
"...And where were you?" Reve asked as he glared at Kuro.  
"I was watching with friends."  
"Dait right?" Waiston asked.  
"Yeah.."  
Calium makes his way to the front. "Why were you watching when you're on the team is the real question." The master of White Eclipse questioned.  
"I already had my fight, and Takeru-San said he was gonna go next in the event so I thought why bother?" Kuro replied as he began walking past Calium. Calium palms Kuro's chest and pushes him into the chair behind him, breaking the chair and causing Kuro to hit the ground, stunned that Calium actually put his hands on Kuro. "W-what!?"  
"Why bother!? You listen to me Kuro Crane. You're not above anyone so I don't get where you believe you are. You signed up for this, so you don't ditch your guild mates! I don't care if you're competing that day or not!"  
"Master.." Kuro whimpered out.  
"Don't Master me! Since you didn't want to be with the team today, don't be with them tomorrow either. Sit in the stands with the others instead.  
Heather will stand in for you tomorrow. You can compete again on day four."  
"But that's not fair!" Kuro cried out.  
"Not fair? What's not fair is Luke and Skye competing in their fights, and their missing a guild mate to cheer them on. If only Mary could see what her brat has turned into right now.."  
"Master!" Waiston shouts in surprise.  
"Old man.." Sidney comments, even he felt like that was excessive.  
Without another word, Kuro makes his way to his room, slamming the door behind him.

.  
The third day was quickly underway. Eight mages lined up at starting line as they waited for instructions.  
"Here we are folks! Today's competitors are! White Eclipse A's Reve Volver! Quatro Cerberus Blues!"  
"Tch, Bacchus has still yet to compete." Erza says in an annoying tone.  
"Fairy Tail A's Wendy Marvell! Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis! Fairy Tail B's Mystogan!"  
"You mean Jellal-Dono." Jura says to Mystogan with a grin.  
"Nothing gets by you Jura." Jellal replies.  
"White Eclipse B's Jaxon Meteoro!"  
Jaxon stand there, eyes closed and arms crossed, waiting.  
"Mermaid Heel's Beth Vanderwood! And last but not least, Sabertooth's Rogue Cheney! Today's event!"  
As he spoke, a giant rocky mountain manifests from the arena. "Hm?" Heather looks on as she stood with White Eclipse A, taking Skye's place from yesterday.  
"It's Rocky Mountain race! The rules are simple! First one to the top wins!"  
"Easy." Jellal thought to himself. "This is what my meteor was made for."  
Reve and Jaxon exchange glances, smirk, and don't say another word.  
"Jura has the advantage! He likes rocks OOOON!"  
"Lets do this!" Wendy yelled out.  
"It's another sunny day again here in Crocus! The weather has been very generous!" Chapati yells.  
"A sunny day huh?" Jaxon smirks as he looks up to the sky. "We'll see about that."  
The host walks to the middle and raises his hands.  
"Ready-Kabo!"  
"Go!"  
The mages all take off in a sprint. All except Reve and Jaxon. They both stand there with their arms crossed, watching the other mages make it to the base of the mountain and begin scaling.  
"Meteor!" Mystogan's body begins to glow a golden aura. He then takes off in a blur up the mountain, gaining a significant lead against the other mages.  
"Not too fast Jellal-Dono." Lyon begins firing pillars of stone out of the mountain side, trying to hit Mystogan. One clips his leg. "Gah!" Mystogan goes tumbling into the ground as he holds on to the lead. He quickly makes his way to his feet, just to see a giant rock wall not only in his way, but was also crashing towards him. All he could do was move backwards to buy time and that's what he did as he reactivated meteor and began flying away from the rock wall as it came crashing down. Wendy continued running until she caught up to a running Beth Vanderwood. "Carrot missile!" Beth turns and fires multiple carrots at Wendy but she quickly ducks them as she continues her momentum ahead. "Sky Dragon's claw!" She swings at Beth, but she ducks as well. The two mages continue running side by side until they split up into two separate paths.  
Rogue was running right in front of Blues. Blues simply smirks as he uses his water magic to create aqua jets in his feet. He goes flying by Rogue and even Jura for second place. He was steadily catching up to Jellal.  
A lot of eyes were on Reve and Jaxon. Who still haven't moved. A lot of murmurs start to happen. Reve looks over at Jaxon and smirks. "Nice day today isn't it?"  
Jaxon looks over at Reve. "Beautiful weather. But there's one thing about weather you should know Reve."

"And what's that Jaxon?"  
A magic circle appears in the air over the mountain.

"It's always unpredictable."


	36. Chapter 36

White Eclipse  
Chapter 36

"The race is coming near the end and neither White Eclipse member has yet to move from the starting line! Did they decide to not participate!?" Chapati and the others continue looking on as the other mages continue their climb up the mountain side.  
Wendy was the only one on her trail it seemed as she took a left road while Beth took the right. Everyone else continued climbing right up the middle. She comes across a curving road and runs up it until everyone comes back into view for her. Spotting Blues in second, she aims at him since Mystogan was too far ahead. She rears her head back as she puffs out her cheeks. "Roar of the Sky Dragon!" She fires a funnel of sky magic right at Blues. "Huh!?" Blues notices, but not in time as he covers up from the attack. The force behind the funnel blows him off to the right and down the mountain side a bit as Jura keeps his pace, passing the Quatro Cerberus Mage.  
"I'm almost there!" Mystogan reactivated his meteor and takes off. Jura once again begins lifting rock like pillars up in the air, trying to knock Mystogan off course, but to no avail. Mystogan nears the peak of the mountain.  
"Alright, it's time." Reve says as he requips a sniper rifle into his hands.  
"Gotcha." Jaxon smirks as his body begins to glow red. As his body begins to glow, the heat over the mountain begins to rise. It quickly sky rockets to near unbearable heat.  
"What...why is it so hot all of sudden?" Mystogan begins to sweat, and quickly goes down to a knee, trying to fan himself from the heat. "I can't shed my mask, that would cause chaos. Dammit!"  
"Ah..it's so hot!" Wendy cries out as she went down to her hands and knees.  
"I feel like I'm evaporating." Blues whines out. He stops and hunches over to gasp for air as the heat makes it nearly too humid to breathe. "Air..." The other mages also stop their running due to the heat.  
"All yours." Jaxon says with a smirk.  
"Heh." Reve lines up his sniper rifle. "First things first." He takes aim at Mystogan, right at his back. "Bang." Reve fires, and the small, yet powerful bullet of magic goes traveling at a high speed, and then slams into Mystogan's back. He lets out a yell of pain as he falls forward. Unconscious.  
"What!? From back there!?" Rogue looked back to the base of the mountain as he continued to sweat profusely. His blurry vision spotted Reve and Jaxon still standing there. It was the last thing he saw before a beam of magic slammed into his chest, causing him to black out after tumbling into the ground.  
"Those assholes!" Natsu shouted.  
"Watch your mouth over there." Takeru said, really just to bother the already riled up Natsu.  
"Or what!?" Natsu yelled back as Lucy grabs him by the arm. A small grin comes over Takeru's face. "Why is she always holding you back Salamander? Is it a ploy because you know you can't beat me in a fight?"  
"Why don't you come say that over here you coward!"  
"Natsu stop!" Lucy yells back.  
"Coward?" Takeru begins walking over until Selene grabs him as well. "Huh? Selene?"  
"Don't even think about it Tak. Just let it go." Selene gives him a stern look.  
"Ha! Who's being held back now!" Natsu yells in a mocking tone.  
Takeru bares his teeth and then turns back to the lacrima screen to watch the event unfold.  
Back at the mountain base, down goes Jura from being shot in the shoulder, then Beth in the leg. "That's all of them Jaxon. Lets go." Reve grins as he retracts his sniper rifle. "You remember the rules right?"  
Jaxon chuckles. "Yeah Yeah, dead sprint once we get up there to keep it fair. Fastest on foot wins." As he speaks, Jaxon creates two tornadoes that hover the mages over them, the tornadoes make their way up the mountain side easily.  
"Everyone's down... They're gonna win.." Lucy said with worry in her voice.  
"Wendy get up!" Natsu yells as he cups his hands around his mouth.  
"Mystogan! Get up you wimp, damn!" Gajeel joins Natsu in the yelling, then all of Fairy Tail begin shouting, rooting their team on.  
"Laying down during an event ain't wild Blues!" Bacchus yelled out.  
"Beth. Up!" Kagura exclaimed.  
"Come on Jura!" Lyon yelled.  
"Rogue! You're the best one out there come on!" Lector yells for his dragon slayer's best friend. "Fro thinks so too!" One by one, starting with Wendy and Mystogan, they all rose to their feet as Jaxon and Reve take the lead near the peak.  
"This is as far as she goes Reve." Jaxon stated.  
"Cool, the second we touch down, it's a dead sprint for first." Reve replied.  
"Ready...go!" The second they took off, a giant rock wall appears before them, cutting off their path. "What!?" Reve turns around, just in time to have a shadow dragon's roar slam into his chest and against the wall. The same thing happened to Jaxon with the aquatic roar from Blues. They both slam into the unforgiving wall, until Jura collapses it on top of the two mages, breaking the wall into smaller boulders, all on top of the mages. They now sat under the pile, buried alive.  
"Damn!" Jack expresses as he looked on.  
"Tch! Bastards.." Adam scoffed while recrossing his arms. Taya chuckles as everyone turns to her.  
"They may not come in first now." She says. "But they won't be last, and they pissed off the wrong mage."  
Coming to the top, from opposite sides, were Wendy and Beth. They both ran for the circle that indicated the finish to the event. "Carrot missle!" Beth fires at Wendy again. The hoard of carrots come hurling towards her. Wendy keeps running as she wraps sky magic around her fists. She begins knocking down the incoming vegetables as she doesn't lose momentum. Beth as well was running full speed as they both came to a slide for the circle.  
"Oh my! Another close one! But first place goes too.." The lacrima vision shows a replay of Beth Vanderwood's fingertips passing the line right before Wendy's. "It's Beth Vanderwood! She's given Mermaid Heel ten points! What a comeback these past few days from Mermaid Heel! That leaves Fairy Tail A with eight points!"  
Wendy stands and walks over to the plant mage who was dusting herself off. All Wendy could do was smile and extend her hand. "Nice job Beth!" Beth looks at her hand for a bit, and then shakes it with a smile. "Thanks! You too!"  
"She did it!" Millions cheers as she and Risley huh in excitement. Kagura lowers her head a bit with a smirk of approval.  
Erza nods. "It couldn't of been any closer. Good job Wendy."  
Back at the mountain side, in the pile of smaller boulders, an explosion of magical pressure happens, pushing the rocks out in multiple directions. Now sitting up, seething, was Reve and Jaxon. Jaxon had blood trickling down his lip as he sat there wide eyed and angered. "That's it! Everybody's going down!" The green haired mage yelled as the entire mountain began to rumble. Just then, the giant magic circle begins to spin clockwise at a fast pace. Suddenly, out of the circle, comes a giant cyclone. The cyclone was mixed with cool blue and red heated winds. The cyclone started near the peak of the mountain, and began to swirl around and down the mountain, expecting to take no prisoners. At the same time, right down the middle of the mountain, the earth begins to split in half as the entire area begins to tremble. Lava also begins shooting out of the giant crevice and spreads out to the mages, as if it locked on to them.  
"What's going on!?" Jura exclaimed as he hopped to the right side of the mountain to avoid the giant crack and the incoming lava that was slowly taking over the mountain.  
"Apacolyptica." Taya said with a grin. She then raised her voice to the stunned mages that were watching. "It seems we underestimated all of you. You're witty, clever little devils. But you're starting something you don't want to finish with us. Jaxon is one of our best. With no offense to our mages, besides Reve, Kuro and Jack and Adam, and now Heather; our best have been sitting over here in the audience the whole time. But you wimps want to hang on, and win by lucky stints. You're barking up the wrong tree."  
"Hey shut up lady!" Natsu yells back.  
"Cute, please don't make me suit up Dragneel, I'll drag your sorry ass across this entire city." Taya replied.  
"Oh yeah!?"  
Taya ignores the last comment as she turns back to the screen.  
"I've got to time this right." Mystogan takes off sprinting as the cyclone continues to roll by faster and faster on each go around. "Meteor!" Once again, he takes off in a blur, but not in time as his foot was caught by the incoming cyclone. Now caught in the middle of ice cold and scorching hot winds, Mystogan let's out a yell as he was spit out back down at the base of the mountain, fighting the urge to pass out from the damage. "The mountain is completely ruined." Rogue speaks, he then catches Reve and Jaxon racing up a path of the mountain. "Hm.. I bet that's the safest path to take right now." He then takes off right behind them, ready to strike so he can finish before them.  
Blues and Jura continue racing up the mountain side. Blues uses his aqua jets to cool off the lava into rocks for him to step on, as Jura simply causes pillar after pillar to appear like stepping stones and bridges. Upon coming up to the cyclone, Blues conjures up two giant orbs of water and fires them directly into the vortex, but the cyclone merely absorbs the water and continues its rampage. Jura edges past the cyclone just barely, and continues his sprint to the finish. At this time, Reve and Jaxon hit the peak and sprint towards the finish. "Now.." Rogue speeds up and lunges past them, taking them both by surprise. Rogue then leaps for the finish where Wendy and Beth were standing, but Reve and Jaxon both grab him by the collar and pull him back. Before he could react, Reve was pointing a shot gun right to his gut and open fired, slamming a burst shot right into Rogue's gut. The shadow dragon slayer goes falling backwards into the ground as he rolled a bit. Still running, Reve finishes right Before Jaxon. "And both White Eclipse mages finish, giving them six and four points to A and B!"  
Coming up now was Jura and Blues. Blues tackles the mage in front of him, taking Jura down with him. They both scramble for the finish line, crawling with everything they had. Blues was an inch ahead as he reached, but then a golden blur passes right past him as it lands in the circle. "Oh my what a comeback! Fairy Tail B steals three points!  
"Shit" Blues yells as he scrambled across the circles right in front of Jura and the just now awakened Rogue who came in last. "Blues finishes for Quatro Cerberus, giving him two points! Jura gives Lamia Scale one point! That leaves Rogue with zero, poor Sabertooth."  
"This is insane!" Sting yells out. "We are better than this!"  
"Well, at least he was able to get some points." Mirajane said, talking about her teammate Mystogan.  
"We'll make up for it." Laxus stated.

.  
"Ha! Told ya!" Ruika holds her hand out as Kiora, Maggie and Tobias all hand over a small bag of jewel.  
"Told ya, I knew that weird carrot girl was gonna win."  
"Tch, lucky guess." Tobias scoffed.  
"Why!?" Kiora cried out. "Why did I listen to Tobias about Jellal!? I never listen to Tobias! Why would I even consider listening to Tobias!?"  
"Calm down Kiora, I betted on that wanker Rogue and he came in dead last. At least yours got points." Maggie huffs as she turns back to the arena.  
"But..." Kiora sniffled. "I was gonna buy things with that."  
"Shouldn't have bet." Ruika states as she runs her hands through the gold. As she does so, Chapati begins to speak over the microphone.  
"It's time for the fights again! And this time, Fairy Tail A's Lucy Heartfilia! Vs. Sabertooth's Yukino Aguria! That's right, the two celestial mages are about to go at it!" Everyone from Tartaros stops, and then turns to Ruika. Ruika stops on the dime. "Did he say..." Her eye begins to twitch. Ruika drops the jewel from her hands as she stares down at the two female mages taking the arena.  
"Ruika..lets stay calm now." Maggie says to her, trying to keep Ruika relaxed.  
"Celestial mages... Two of them, in the same place...I want both of their faces mounted on my wall."

"Good luck to you Yukino!" Lucy yells as she waved. Yukino smiles and then bows. "You too Lucy!"  
"Fighters ready-Kabo!?"  
"Begin!"  
Lucy and Yukino both grab a key from their side. "Open! Gate of the paired fish, Pisces!" Out of its gate, two giant fish begin to hover above and throughout the arena.  
AYEEEE! THEY'RE BACK!" Happy yells in excitement as he begins to drool out of his mouth.  
"Calm down He-cat." Charla sighs out in embarrassment.  
"She's starting off strong. In that case, open! Gate of the lion! Loke!" Loke walks out of his gate with his hands in his pockets as he looks up at the two giant fish. "For Lucy, I'll win this fight. His fists begin to glow a golden orange light as he takes off towards Yukino herself. The black fish cuts Loke off by slamming into his side head first. Loke goes sliding as the other half of Pisces begins heading towards Lucy.  
"Lucy!" Loke calls out. Lucy lifts up another key. "Open! Gate of the ram! Aries!" Out of the shining gate is Aries the white lamb. "Wool bomb!" She quickly fires a large clump of wool at the white fish, stopping it in its tracks. "Loke now!" Lucy calls for her celestial spirit. Loke smirks and begins to charge his regulas attack. "Open! Gate of the scales! Libra!" Yukino lifted her key into the air as it glowed. Then out of her gate, came Libra. The second she touched down, She shifted the gravity against Loke, causing him to lose concentration. "Loke hang on!" Lucy quickly pulled out her whip and swings it at Loke, wrapping it around his waist. She then pulls him out of the gravity shift. "Heh. Thanks Lucy. Now.." Loke begins charging Yukino. The black fish of Pisces begins to charge at him again, but Loke slides to a halt and turns to it. "Regulus punch!" He rears back a right fist and slams it into Pisces, the impact so strong that Pisces begins to disperse and leave back towards the celestial world. "Nice job! Now to Yukino!" Lucy yells as she points to the other key holder!  
"Not so fast Lucy. Libra!"  
"Aries!"  
Before Libra could shit the gravity against Loke to keep her away from Yukino.. "Wool Bomb!" Aries fires off her patented wool bomb, consuming Libra inside and temporarily useless. "Oh no.." Yukino takes a step back. "Finish it Loke!"  
"Right!" Loke begins charging Yukino again.  
"You both suck!" Ruika yells at the top of her lungs, even though no one from the arena could hear her from that far. "You're both horrible Celestial Mages, and I'll personally kill you both!"  
"Damn Ruika calm down girl." Kiora snickers. "We all know who's better."  
"Hmph.. Of course you do.. It's not even worth debating. I would easily destroy them both."  
"Well you'll probably get your chance sooner or later." Daityas adds.  
"I can't wait."  
"Regulus.." Loke rears back a fist that he aims at Yukino, looking for the final blow.  
Yukino lifts a key into the air. "Open...gate of the snake charmer. Ophiuchus." As the clouds darken, an incredibly long, Mechanical snake comes sliding out of the gate. Immediately ramming into Loke, slamming him into the ground. It then makes its way, and then slams into Aries, causing her to go tumbling, until she returns to her gate. "Aries! Loke!" Lucy cries out.  
"I'm fine.." Loke says as he struggles to his feet.  
Lucy begins to look on with worry. "I don't know anything about..."  
"Ophiuchus!?" Ruika jumped up with wide eyes.  
"Hm? Something special about that one Ruika?" Tobias asked.  
"Shut up Tobias."  
"Something special about that one Ruika?" Kiora repeated Tobias's question exactly.  
"That's a powerful spirit. But how did that two bit mage get her hands on it!" I MUST have it!" Ruika clenches both of her fists as her eyes light up. She quickly then composes herself as a small gate opens. A miniature devil looking dog that oddly resembles Plue appears on her shoulders. She pats the little devil on the head. "Well aren't you anxious Devillo." Ruika smirks at the devil as it smiles back, looking down at the fight.  
"It's you and him Loke!" Lucy shouts.  
"Right!" Loke stares down the moving snake as Yukino looks on at Lucy.  
"Is she not planning to summon another spirit? She's just sticking with Loke?"  
Loke and Ophiuchus continue to trade blows. Loke's punches begin to leave dents in the mechanical snake as Ophiuchus continues leaving bruises against Loke with each impact.  
"Time!" The pumpkin headed host yells.  
"What a fight! But with neither side giving in, or seems this match has ended in a draw, giving both sides five points."  
"BOOO! You both suck!" The other Tartaros mages couldn't help but laugh at Ruika and her distaste for the other celestial wizards.  
"That gives Fairy Tail A thirty 39 points for the day, and Sabertooth still an unimpressive fourteen."  
"Did he have to say unimpressive?" Sting says as he face palms.  
"We obviously didn't come prepared this year.." Rogue stated. "And we're missing our sadism.  
"Our sadism?" Orga questioned as Yukino walks back to the group.  
"The old master and Minerva were evil, but we weren't. It gave us a sadistic balance. We took no prisoners. Now...we're nice. We don't have anyone to balance us out."  
"Huh? Well what about Fairy Tail?" Rufus asked.  
"Don't let them fool you. They're our allies now, but Fairy Tail is as sadistic as they come in a way. White Eclipse as well. When it comes to competition, they all fight until there is none, while we're over here cherishing it." Rogue lowers his head at his own words. "It's one thing to be a face in the eyes of everyone. It's another to completely give up who you are as a guild, and we've done that."  
Everyone stays quiet at the harsh reality of Rogue Cheney's words. Sting then looks up at the leader board, seeing that they're the ones at the bottom now.  
"Well then." Sting says as he slowly smirks. "This isn't over. We'll just have to remind them all, why we're Sabertooth."

"Next up! We have White Eclipse A's Adamantine! vs. Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis!"  
Jura walks to the arena, standing across from an already waiting Adamantine. The crowd to this day, continued to awe at the massive build of the "mage."  
"I really hope Jura doesn't push Adam of the edge." Calium states.  
"Push him over the edge Jura. I dare you." Taya states just loud enough over the crowd.  
Sidney smirks. "She's into it now. I can't wait for the final day. The dark vector mage."  
In the middle of the stands, sat an elderly woman, she was well buried in the crowd to the naked eye. Her gray hair was wrapped in a bun.  
"These are the mages I've had many an encounter with. I do miss the fights I can't lie about that." The elderly woman says to herself as she smiles softly.  
"Excuse me miss?" Just then, a blonde haired male with a council captain uniform walks over to her seat, now standing in the way of her view.  
"Hm?" She looks up at the youthful captain. "Is there something I can help you with young one?"  
"Young one? Heh.. You're technically not that old, Ultear." The captain chuckled at her previous statement.  
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" The woman now revealed as Ultear begins to become suspicious of the blonde haired male.  
"Council advisor Ultear, it's me! Young Correll!" He smiles as he takes a seat next to her. It quickly clicks as soon as he says his name. "Correll? You've grown up quite well! You don't look like that perverted little kid that hung around Siegrain anymore. Much different."  
"Heh, I'm a perverted young man now." He laughed.  
"Some things never change I guess Correll. So what brings you here?"  
"You bring me here, Ultear." The former time ark mage looks at Correll with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"  
"Ultear... We've found a cure. Siegrain is back, and we want you back in the council."  
"...get away from me Correll." Ultear scooted away from the captain as far as she could without invading anyone else's personal space.  
"Wait, Ultear! Hear me out. I know you miss your youth. You were a powerful mage. Please just give this a chance. This isn't just about bringing you back to council."  
"If Siegrain is back in power, why didn't he come here himself?" She asked.  
"He's busy setting everything up. He has big plans! You still want Zeref stopped right!? This is our chance."  
Her face perks up from Zeref's name. "Zeref.."

"Begin!"  
The host throws his hands down to initiate the start of the fight. Adam unfolds his arms and begins walking towards Jura in a stalking matter. "I feel like breaking you in two, wizard saint." He spoke in such an animalistic tone, as if not human. Jura smirked as he raised to fingers just below his own chin. "We'll see about that, Adam-Dono." Out of the ground, Jura conjures an iron rock fist that comes hurling towards Adamantine. "Heh." Adam merely rears a fist back, and slams it into the giant iron rock fist, shattering it to pieces. "Are you serious!?" Lyon shouted.  
"What is this guy!?" Bacchus yells.  
"He is definitely a man." Elfman states as he looks on in shock.  
"I want to fight him." Natsu smirks as he looks on with amusement.  
"That's our big guy!" Reve shouted.  
"Hmph." Jura stays poised as Adam continues walking toward him. "My turn. Ice.." Adam puffs his cheeks, and then fires a gigantic funnel of Ice towards Jura. "Roar!" Jura quickly puts up wall after wall of tall stone, about ten in all, but the roar breaks them all down easily and then slams into the wizard saint, causing him to go sliding back a great deal from the cushioned blow. "It broke through!" Lyon was still in shock at the power Adam had. "And he's not even an S class? This has to be a mistake on their guild's part."  
"I won't be dominated! Supreme rock crush!" Taking the shattered rocks from the rock wall and fist, Jura controls them and surrounds Adam with the broken sediments. With a strong flick of the wrist, leading with his two fingers, Jura buries Adamantine in stones. "He's got him!" Elfman yells.  
"Finish him!" Lyon shouts with excitement. Jura nods, and with another flip of the wrist, the mini mountain of rocks explode with Adam inside.  
When the debris clears, Adam stands there. A few scratches were seen on his body through his now ripped sleeveless shirt. "...Aira made this for me. Do you know how hard it is to find my size?" Adam rips his shirt off completely as a magic circle appears under Jura. Without warning, a giant glacier shoots up from under him, causing Jura to go flying high into the air. All eyes were on Adam as he crouched down, and then launched himself into the air. He leaped himself right next to the still ascending Jura who couldn't do anything but look at Adam with wide eyes. "I think there's a bed right next to Fullbuster in the infirmary."  
"You...bastard." And with that, Adam slams an elbow right into the sternum of Jura, sending him speeding down into the ground. When the dust cloud cleared, it was obvious that Jura was out cold.  
"...J-Jura is unable to fight-Kabo! The winner is Adamantine!"  
"And White Eclipse...White Eclipse A picks up the win!" Chapati shouts in a stunned like tone. "We may need to get some medical help for Jura."  
"M-monster!" All of Lamia Scale look on in disbelief.  
"And don't forget it." Adamantine says with a grin. "It's White Eclipse."  
"Or second place!" The guild members yell. "I told you." Taya added on. "There's no way in hell you'll be able to beat us."  
"Oh shut up!" Natsu steps to the near middle of the arena. He then points at Adam as he stood inches away. "No one from Fairy Tail is afraid of you! You're just another person like everyone else! We can defeat you!"  
"That's the thing Dragneel!" Adam's eyes begin to change as he looks down at the Salamander. The excitement of battle had him off his focus as his pupils shift from round to oval, like a dragon's. "I'm not just another person!"  
"Adam just blew his cover." Takeru thought to himself.  
Reve quickly jogs over and grabs Adamantine by the arm, snapping the dragon out of his own trance. "Easy big guy. We're done here. Move along Natsu."  
Adam begins walking away from Natsu with Reve but it was too late by then. Natsu was snarling. He picked up the scent that Adam tried so hard to mask. Standing there for a few more seconds he begins walking back to the team. Lucy looks at Natsu with concern.

"What's wrong Natsu.?" She asked.

"White Eclipse's Adamantine.

He's a dragon."


	37. Chapter 37

White Eclipse  
Chapter 37

"Siegrain sir." Lahar had entered the room and bowed upon his arrival. "I've just been contacted by Correll. Ultear has been persuaded, and they will be here shortly."  
Siegrain smirks. He stood alone on the council magic circle as he had a lacrima screen active, watching the Grand Magic Games take place. The room was dark, only the magic circle and the lacrima screen gave off light, just enough to see Siegrain. "That's not news to me. I knew my dear Ultear wouldn't pass up a chance to regain her youth. Now everything is coming to plan. I will reign supreme in Fiore with this plan. Once Ultear gets here Lahar, leave us be. I have much to do before the Grand Magic Games end tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow?" Lahar raised a brow in confusion. "Sir, I think you're mistaken. The games still have three more days left including today."  
Siegrain grins as he folds his arms, eyes still fixated on the lacrima screen. "Don't worry, I know what I'm saying and I've taken care of that, Lahar." Lahar decides not to question as he bows again. "Alright, well I'll be taking my leave then." Lahar walks out, and the minute he does, two familiar faces walk out from the shadows. A kid, and an older man. Silent Sanctum's master and strongest mage, Jikan Calium and Aloysis. The young Jikan Calium stepped onto the magic circle to the right of Siegrain, while Aloy took to the left. Something was different about Aloysis however. He was, in uniform; a council guard uniform. On his chest was a badge that said "Lead captain." They both avert their eyes to the screen as Siegrain begins to speak.  
"Alright, when Ultear gets here, you both will make yourself scarce until I can talk to her. Jikan, you'll thence your magic to make her the young and fearsome Ultear again. Everything is understood yes?"  
Aloysis smirks. "Got it, 'sir.'"  
"Not a problem." Jikan slowly starts swinging a pendulum from his middle finger, a small ticking sound was heard through each swing. "She'll be as good as new."  
"Which is great." Aloy added. "I heard she was a beautiful thing when she was at her youth."  
Siegrain can't help but laugh. "Alright you two. See you in a few minutes." Aloysis and Jikan back away into the shadows once again. Siegrain then smirks as he goes into his own thoughts.  
"That foolish Daityas, mercifully handing over the tools I need to complete /my/ goals. Though I have no ties to the fool Jellal, if he thinks I'm really on his side to help that god monster destroy the world and 'start over in the world of magic,' he's sadly mistaken. I'll save us all, yet it'll be done my way, and then Fiore will have no choice, but to let me literally rule this land. So says your future king of Fiore, Siegrain!" He almost lets out a maniacal laugh on the outside but quickly stops himself and clears his throat. "Well then, lets finish watching the next to last day of these games shall we? I think I'll make an appearance there tomorrow."

.

"Next in our fight, we have Araña Webb from Mermaid Heel! Vs. Gajeel Redfox!"  
Gajeel grins as e walks to the arena, where Araña waited. He stood with his arms crossed as he waited for the host to drop his hands. "Fighters ready-Kabo!?" He then does so as he shouts "Begin!"  
No one moves at first, Gajeel was hoping for some offense from the girl, but Araña waited patiently. "What? You mermaids are on a roll, you don't want to keep the spirit up?" The iron dragon slayer asked in a taunting tone.  
"Oh..but I am." Araña smirks as she looks up at the clock, slowly receding in time.  
"Don't look at the clock Araña." Kagura stated as she facepalmed, now looking at the ground, except her palm blocking her view.  
"Gihehehe! You think you're gonna survive that long?"  
"Gajeel, lets go." Laxus says, raising his voice.  
"I don't remember teaching these runts to underestimate their opponent." Makarov states as he watches Gajeel with his arms folded, an entire minute gone by and still movement from either mage. "I do." Mavis chimed in with a smile. Makarov, in shock of her reply turns to her with a confused and shamed look. "When!?"  
She turns to the old man and smiles. "You've done a marvelous job raising them, Makarov. You've also done a marvelous job helping them believe that there is no one stronger than Fairy Tail, but it seems recently, you've forgotten to draw the line between confidence and cockiness. If I didn't know who we were, I'd think we were White Eclipse just from the rumors.."  
"Hold on!" Levy yells out.  
"Levy!" Droy replied. "You can't yell at the first master like that!"  
"I just did! I don't mean any disrespect Master Mavis, but Gajeel is not, nor are any of us, like them! And as a member I'll defend them against anyone who says other wise, guild master or not!"  
"Levy..." Everyone looks at Levy and Mavis in shock, waiting for a reply.  
"..." Master Mavis smiles. "Well at least we still have the most important Fairy Tail characteristic. Though my words may be harsh Levy, they don't ring any false accusations. Didn't you guys laugh when those two White Eclipse boys tell you why you didn't see them at last year's games?" Before anyone could answer, Mavis continued. "And Macao, if I'm not mistaken, where were we the year before that? And the year before that?" Instead of answering, he lowers his head, knowing that any response was a bad one.  
Mavis smiles again as she looks back at Fairy Tail. "Don't ever get my words wrong. I'll always love you guys. You could become a dark guild and I would still love Fairy Tail, but it's a Master's job to point out your weaknesses so you can fix them, and since Makarov was part of the weakness this time, I felt like it was necessary." Levy, still upset, turns to the and cups her hands over her mouth.  
"Lets go Gajeel!"  
"Alright. Lets go!" Gajeel begins rushing towards Araña at full speed as he right fist turns into a retracted iron pole. He then fires the iron pole, extending it at a fast pace, towards Araña.  
"Wait for it..." Kagura stated. "Now!"  
And with that, Araña hops slightly to the left, avoiding the iron pole Gajeel threw. "Web shot!" As the iron pole hits the ground, Araña quickly fires her web shot at Gajeel's arm, concentrating her aim at the pole that was slammed into the dirt.  
"What is she?" Gajeel begins to pull his arm out the ground, but halfway on the pull, his arm becomes stuck. "Oh I see your game. It won't work. Gihe!" Upon his laughter, Gajeel's arm turns into his iron sword. It then begins spinning as the blades quickly cut through the web. "Didn't count on that.." Araña gives a low growl as the charges Gajeel. She lunges forward with a flying kick, but Gajeel grabs her leg and tosses her in the air like a rag doll. "Web shot!" Araña recovers in mid air and off more strands of webs. Gajeel times the incoming webs and then rolls hard under them. He then springs into the air right behind the descending Araña. He then performs a flip kick aimed at the top of Araña's head. She blocks it, but the strength of Gajeel sends her flying to the ground anyways. As the dust clears, Araña was laying on the ground, but well awake, causing the host to not call he fight. "Here I come!" With his iron sword still out as his right hand, Gajeel dive bombs towards Araña. With nowhere to go in time, Araña covers up as a cloud of smoke appears from Gajeel's impact. When the smoke clears, the sword was lodged into the ground right beside Araña's head as Gajeel stood over her. "It's safe to say you give right?"  
Araña nods, and the host throws his hands up. "Araña has forfeited-Kabo! The winner is Gajeel!"  
"Gihe.." Gajeel walks back to his team as Araña shamefully walks back over to Mermaid Heel.  
"Alright!" Chapati yells. "It's time for the last match today! But before we begin, I have a stunning announcemt for you all. I have a letter from the council, stating that an mandatory job is coming up shortly, and some of the guilds in this contest are needed for this mission. Therefore, tomorrow is the last day of the Grand Magic Games!"  
"What!?" Sting yells out.  
"Well there goes our comeback." Orga states. Rogue merely sighs.  
"That's unfair!" Lyon yells out.  
"Oh can it ice maker." Adam replied. "It's not like you were catching up anyways. You have four points."  
"This last match is really important for both teams then." Sidney thought to himself. "If Quatro Cerberus wins, they'll be in the running still for champions come tomorrow. But if our B team wins, we'll start out in the lead for tomorrow, and since we planned on putting all of our best on the last day, that would almost insure victory. I guess we'll just have to see how this plays out then. It's either Jaxon, or Selene that's up against either Bacchus or that other Kuro guy. Jaxon can take Kuro just from his weather magic beats water...but Selene is a good match for Bacchus... Any other way, it'll come down to who wants it more, and I still believe in White Eclipse in that category.  
"Okay! For the final match, we have Selene Marquise! Vs... Bacchus!"  
"Heh." Sidney smirks. "I don't know about any improvements Bacchus has made, but on paper, Selene is the clear winner here."  
Bacchus waits with Selene, his gourd in his right left hand, dangling from his finger tips. Selene walks up as the host holds his hands in the air.  
"Fighters ready-Kabo?"  
"Hold on.." Bacchus lifts the gourd up. "My team needs this win. So I'm not pulling any punches." As he finished his statement, Bacchus lifts the gourd and begins to down the alcohol inside, all the way down to the last drop. He wipes his mouth as his eyes become droopy. A small smile was now plastered cross his face. "I know about your diamonds, you're no secret. And it just makes my soul quiver to know that my bare palms have to get through your diamond scales." He looks over at the host, giving the signal that he's ready as Selene, with a determined face, stands ready.  
"Begin!"  
Immediately, Bacchus takes off at full speed. Selene beats him to the punch, throwing a plain right hook, but Bacchus stops on the mark and bends backwards to the left, dodging the blow. He follows with a combination of open palm strikes that Selene manages to dodge up until the last one. She blocks that one as she goes for a leg sweep. Bacchus hops over the sweep and on his way down he adds force to his legs, causing the ground to shake when he touches down. Selene loses balance due to this, which leaves her open as Bacchus slams one of his magic palms into her abdomen, causing Selene to go tumbling into the ground. She stands up quickly however and with an emotionless stare, she charges back at the drunken Mage, covering her arms in diamonds. She began swinging fast paced, but not as fast as her bare fists punches at Bacchus. He counters by stepping backwards and dodging the blows, slapping away the punches and looking for an opening. "Gotcha!" Upon finding one, he fires another palm aimed right for her chest, but Selene ducks. "As if." Selene twists her diamond encrusted right fist and slams an uppercut to Bacchus's jaw. Bacchus takes a rumble into the dirt after hovering from the blow after a few seconds. He too quickly stands as the two mages glare at each other from across the arena. The crowd roars as the two begin charging at the same time, meeting in the middle as the collide fist to palm, creating a shockwave.  
"Lets go Bacchus! Wild!" Blues yells out!  
"Four!" The other Cerberus members roar in excitement.  
"Come on Selene!" Takeru yells. "You can do it!" Calium looks over at Takeru and smiles at his enthusiasm. "Heh, little brat hasn't cheered so loud this entire week. How cute."  
Selene releases her punch and begins firing off a combination of punches once again. The drunk one, parries once again. Bacchus then ducks a left straight and smirks. "Done." From behind his shoulder, he swings a right palm towards Selene in a U shape, slamming right into her jaw. Before Selene could go anywhere, Bacchus quickly grabs her leg to keep her from flying off. He then slams her into the ground and lifts his leg, going for his patented stomp. A loud slam was heard, but as the dusts settles, Selene was seen on her knees, holding up Bacchus's leg by her diamond coated arm. She then pushes him off and the quickly takes aim at the drunk with her left arm. "Done?" She says in a mocking tone as she fires off a plethora of small but high speed pointed diamonds. Bacchus sees it coming, but with no where to go he quickly covers himself by using his arms to shield his body. The diamonds slam into him nonstop, pinning him against the nearest wall. This last for a good ten seconds before Bacchus finally was able to roll out of the way. Now running from the diamonds, Bacchus makes his way under them and sprints full speed for Selene. Selene stops firing but not in time as Bacchus was already inside. Yet when Bacchus goes to fire another magic palm, Selene merely lifts a leg up to block the strike with her knee. Since Bacchus was much taller, she had to hop up a bit to block successfully, and since she did so, she used the momentum to slam a roundhouse to Bacchus's head. His head snapped over to the left, but he chuckles as he comes right back, grabbing Selene by her collar and shoving his knee into her gut, causing her to fold over. Wide open, Bacchus hip tosses Selene to the ground and stands over her. In an amazing pace, Bacchus slams palm after magic palm into the face and body of Selene.  
"Selene!" Tak yells out. "Get up!"  
"Come on Selena." Reve says, but not too loud. "You're better than that."  
"It's now or never girl!" Nami yells.  
Bacchus begins laughing as he continues slamming his palms all around the grounded Selene. Finally, after taking the abuse.. "Roar... Of the diamond dragon!" Selene fires a point blank diamond dragon's roar into the sternum of Bacchus. The S class mage is sent flying into the air, and then falls hard feet away from Selene who was slowly making her way to her feet. Not only that, but she reappears with the diamond scales on her head and face, as well around her exposed arms. Bacchus makes his way to his feet as well.  
"This fight is going by fast." Cana says as she looks on impressed.  
"That's because they're both going all out." Laxus replied. "Not a single punch is being pulled. This is strange for Bacchus but he has no choice but respect that diamond girl's defense and offensive abilities. I thought that was his only problem, but it seems she's also a savy fighter."  
"Selene he can't hold you!" Cygnus yells.  
"Hit him where it hurts!" Zain yells out as well. The rest of White Eclipse starts to cheer, drowning out the rest of Quatro Cerberus. "Do it for first place! That's what we are!" Cygnus was almost as loud as Takeru as they continued yelling. Selene couldn't help but smirk, for the first time since she's been here. "You guys are embarrassing." She re-focuses as Bacchus paints a grin on his face. "Alright, that was a fun warm up."  
"What!?" Cana says in shock.  
"He's bluffing." Erza says as she watches on with her arms folded. "Come on Bacchus, bluffs don't work like that anymore.  
"Heh, yeah right. I'll show you a warm up." Selene grins as she conjures up a magic circle directly under Bacchus. A diamond tower shoots out from under the mage, but Bacchus slams his palm into the tower as it appears. He used the momentum to flip off and dive  
Bombs towards Selene head first.  
"He's not..." Blues looked on lost for words.  
"He's insane, he'll lose that for real even if it's a man of a move!" Elfman chimed in.  
"WILD!"  
"You wanna go!?" Selene rears her diamond coated head backwards. And with perfect timing, she slams her forehead into Bacchus's incoming dive bombing headbutt. The two blows colliding create a massive shockwave. The collision was so perfect that Bacchus stayed hovering mid air for a few more seconds...until a trail of blood began to run down his forehead, past his nose and down to his chin. "Heh..Wild..." He lands on the ground...standing on his feet. Seconds later, cracking sounds could be heard. Upon a closer look, Selene's diamond scales could be seen peeling off from the crack in them. "There's no way!" Takeru shouted.  
Gajeel looked on in shock. The diamonds he couldn't get through back when they fought, were being shattered by mere flesh and bone. "Bacchus is truly amazing.." Sting says as he waits for the outcome.  
"It's about who falls first! Don't you do it Selene!" Taya yells as she grips the railing.  
Selene and Bacchus both stand there, blood slowly flows from Bacchus skull while Selene's diamonds break off piece by piece. Selene gives a small smirk. Bacchus returns it...and falls backwards. "He's going down!" Takeru yells. He begins to cheer until Reve interrupts. "Selene move!" It was too late. What looked like Bacchus falling, was just him leaning back in his unorthodox manner. "FOUR!" He swings himself back up with incredible force, slamming another headbutt into Selene's head. Another seemingly stalemate occurs, but a few seconds later, Selene hits the ground.  
"Selene!"  
"Get up right now!"  
"Bacchus did it!" Rocker yells as Quatro Cerberus cheers.  
The host looks over at Selene. "Selene is unable-"  
"...Wait!"  
"What!?" Bacchus turns back in shock as Selene makes her way to her feet slowly. Panting heavily, she winces as she looks at Bacchus. "Selene..." Tak and the others watch her carefully.  
"I'm not..done. I'm not...-" Before Selene could utter another word, she falls over again. This time out cold.  
"That's a wild spirit you got there. I hope you keep that."  
"Bacchus wins-Kabo!"  
The crowd cheers as Bacchus slides on his knees and throws his hands in the air. Quatro Cerberus was back in the hunt to become winners of the Grand Magic games.  
"WILD!"  
"FOUR!"  
Tak quickly runs over to Selene who was just making her way to a sitting position.  
"You okay?"  
Selene nods her head, and then makes her way to a stance. Unable to look at anyone, she then walks back to her team with Tak with her head down. As she walked towards them, an uproar of applause came over the White Eclipse fanbase and then some. Random positive comments and shouts about White Eclipse came from the crowd as Selene kept walking. "We just wanted you in the picture!" Selene looks up at Reve who was yelling as he pointed at Bacchus and Quatro Cerberus. "We know we can beat Fairy Tail easily! So hey, how about throw in the puppies as well right!?"  
Bacchus eye twitches from the puppy reference. "You're out of your league. You'll see tomorrow."  
"No you'll see!" Reve responded. "I feel bad for making my teammate let you look good. But tomorrow, whether fairy or puppy. Lamia or Sabertooth. Mermaids too! You're all going down. Because it's White Eclipse!"  
"Or second place!" The crowd and the rest of the team yells.  
"I said it's White Eclipse!"  
"OR SECOND PLACE!"  
"Screw that!" Natsu yelled from across the arena. He then threw up his fairy tail sign as both team A and B joins him, then the rest of the guild behind them. Then the crowd behind them. "You're all talk Volver." Erza stated. "We'll see what you're made of tomorrow!"  
"I'm tired of all of you." Taya commented. "We'll show you why you fear us. We're the top guild here and it's time to shut the fairies up."  
Takeru slams his fist into his palm. "Finally, some action is coming my way." He then points at Natsu. "There's no running. No one to stop me, from getting rid of you, Dragneel."  
"I'll make sure the weather is to our liking tomorrow. Heh. This will be a day to remember, might as well make the forecast the same." Jaxon chuckles as he looks over at Kuro and Blues. "No water in the world can save you for what's coming."  
"My! It's coming down to this finally event tomorrow! The all out fight! Teams vs teams! Who will win it! I'm becoming restless just thinking about it! This has been Chapati Lola. We'll see you all tomorrow!"

.

"Why is it getting cut short though?" Kiora wondered.  
"I'm sure Siegrain has something to do with it. And if he double crosses us.." Daityas continues to stare at the arena.  
"The bloke doesn't have the stones to do such a thing. It's the other Bluenette we have to watch." Maggie chimed in.  
"If you ask me-"  
"No one asked you Tobias!" Kiora yelled back.  
"...well anyways. I feel like Siegrain isn't completely innocent."  
"Well no shit." Daityas replied. "But either way, he'll be dealt with if he crosses me. Rugal, transport to the council HQ for a surprise visit."  
Rugal smirks. "No problem, Daityas." And with that, Rugal summons a portal and sinks into it, disappearing along with the portal he created.  
"Sora's hungry." The young, pink haired girl stated.  
"Sora isn't cute so she needs to not talk in third person like some little brat." Kiora responded.  
"Kiora..."  
"I'm just saying Arc."  
Arc walks up to the front of the group, right behind Daityas as he lifts Sora up and onto his shoulders. She smiles contently as she hugs the top of his head. "I'm glad you're home by the way Arcy."  
"It's good to be around family Sora." Arc replies. "A family that kills together, stays together."  
"What about Taya by the way?" Ruika asked, finally coming down from her obsession over the celestial mages.  
"Simple, we kill her. After the games, we kill her, then we use the vase to bring her back."  
Daityas turns and walks away from the arena sight. Everyone else follows behind. Sora begins clapping her hands in rhythm as they all walk off.

.

Later that night, the members of White Eclipse all sit around. All were  
Seated except Reve and Taya who were in uniform. They both took turns organizing their teams.  
"This is it guys. The scores are close. We're both tied with thirty three. Fairy Tail A had thirty nine. Fairy Tail B has thirty three as well though. But Quatro Cerberus has thirty six. And Mermaid Heel is a one woman wrecking crew, Kagura, and they have thirty points. Me and Taya talked to Sidney and the master, and we've all agreed on who is participating in the final event. I'll start. Zalen."  
"Huh!?" Zalen perks up. "Me?"  
"Don't act surprised, have I ever done anything without you?" He smirks at Zalen as he goes to continue. "Tak, Jack and Kuro."  
"I'm all in." Jack says as he takes a swig on of his drink.  
"I'll make up for ditching you guys I promise!" Kuro yells as he pumps his fists. Takeru stays quiet as he waits for Taya to begin.  
"Alright ladies, and Luke. And by ladies I mean, Me, Heather, Jaxon and Nami."  
"Hey now." Jaxon says as he smirks.  
"Heh, you're a man Jaxon we know."  
Calium then walks into the middle of the room. "Cygnus, Skye, Selene, Kairi, all of you. Thank you all for your contribution to the games. You all did marvelous. Adam, we can't risk you participating anymore. You understand." Adamantine nods. "You ten...bring us home. Win or lose, we're still White Eclipse. Nothing will separate us. Especially not any games."  
"Good luck brats."

.

"Siegrain-Senpai!" Correll jogs into the council room, Siegrain was standing alone. "Here she is! Council lady Ultear!" Correll bows as the elderly Ultear walks into the room. Siegrain puts on an excited smile as he walks toward his former partner in council crime. "Ultear. It's been so long."  
"Don't talk, lets just do this first, and if it works, we'll negotiate." Taken back for a quick second, Siegrain smiles again as he nods to Correll for him to leave. As the blonde does so, Jikan Calium walks back out of the shadows. "Ultear, you want your youth back yes?"  
"Isn't that why I'm here?" She snapped back.  
"Ah, you can tell that her mind is still young with such tongue." Jikan laughed to himself as he shows the pendulum, motioning for Siegrain to clear out the way. As he does, the pendulum swings and a black magic circle appears under Ultear, shooting magic pressure up from under her.

"Just relax Ultear.

This is what you wanted.

To be young again."


	38. Chapter 38

White Eclipse  
Chapter 38

Dawn on Crocus. Lucy, Natsu and Happy were up, leaning over the balcony watching the sunrise. Gajeel was on the ceiling with his as crossed as Levy opened the roof hatch and walked up beside him, along with Pantherlily, now watching the sunrise as well. Erza and "Mystogan" both stood at Erza's balcony staring at the golden star as it began to take the sky. Laxus was standing outside, leaning up against the hotel wall as Mirajane joins him outside. Cana enjoyed the air alone as she began drinking her morning beer. The recovered Gray and Juvia both stood together off to the right of Cana. The wind was blowing against them all. No one said a word, but not a word was needed with how important today was for them. They lead in the leaderboard, but only by a few points. They all remembered the plan that Mavis had came up with, but just like last year, they know that things won't go as exactly as planned. Natsu continues leaning over the balcony as Happy floats to the left of him. He lets out a sigh, but then Lucy places a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look over towards her. She smiles, and then turns back to the sunrise. He does the same.  
Gajeel continues to look on with a scowl on his face and arms folded. His scowl slowly vanishes as Levy leans her head against the iron dragon slayer's shoulder.  
Erza and Jellal stand together side by side, Erza with her arms still folded. They both turn to each other, nod and smile, and then turn back to the sun as it just peaks over the horizon completely.  
Laxus and Mirajane stood under the balcony. Mirajane turns back to Laxus with a smile after watching the sun for a few minutes. Laxus averts his eyes from the sun, to Mirajane and smirks while nodding.  
Gray was watching as well, yet he had a look of disdain on his face as he continuously tried to pull his arm away from Juvia, who was swooning over the shirtless mage and holding onto his arm tightly.  
From his room, Makarov stood on his balcony with his arms folded. "This time never changes. It's the same feeling as last year when Sabertooth was the problem. Only this time, Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus are right there too. It's anyone's game."  
Makarov stares out into the distance for a bit before sighing.  
"I believe in these brats."  
"Usually, ranking isn't important." Mavis interrupts as she appears, sitting beside Makarov on the balcony. "But this isn't just about ranking. No matter how much they love Fairy Tail, the opposing guilds want them off the top. But you know that, and you know it's your job to not let them shun the Fairy Tail name, even if it's something as small as a tournament, it means too much when the reputation is on the line."  
Makarov nods. "I agree. But with your strategy, and the will in these kids, we'll come out in top. Even if it comes down to..."  
"...a single person." Sidney finishes the same sentence as all of white eclipse sit in their lobby. "I promise you, I know what they're gonna do to start. If you follow my plan, they'll be scrambled. The rest will be up to you all. I'm sure everyone here is ready. Speak now if you don't want to participate, you have the entire guild on your back. So, anyone?"  
The entire guild stays quiet. Looks of determination and readiness were plastered on everyone's faces. Everyone but one person's.  
"Alright then. Now that we're all ready-"  
"W-wait..." Zalen lowers his head as he hands begin to shake. "I...I can't do it."  
"Zalen?" Reve looks over at his best friend. He could see him shaking on fear. "Zalen what's wrong?"  
The building mage begins to shake more, keeping his hands in his lap. "I can't...not like this. Not in such an important event. I can't participate. I'm too nervous and..I'll just get in the way."  
"Zalen you'll be fine. I got you."  
"And what if you don't Reve!? What if we get separated? I'm not ready.. I don't want to.." Before anyone can say another word, Zalen takes off his jacket. "Waiston, please take my spot."  
"Me?" Waiston looks at Zalen in confusion. "Zalen you're one of the strongest mages here, why-"  
"Just take it! This is...embarrassing enough."  
"...Tch..." Waiston pushes the jacket back to Zalen's chest. "I'll take your spot, but keep your jacket on. You know I never take mine off anyways."  
Sidney did nothing but glare at his younger brother. He then turned back you the rest of the team. "Alright, this doesn't change the plan much. Waiston's glaciers can make up for the defenses. You all have one hour before time to head to the arena. Don't go anywhere."  
Reve looks over at Zalen again. Zalen could feel him looking and ducks his head in shame. Reve shakes his head and huffs, then leans his head back in the chair he was sitting in.  
Kuro was standing up, leaning against the wall next to Nami.  
"You ready?" Nami asked him.  
"Mhm!" He shook his head with enthusiasm. "I can't wait! I'm so anxious!"  
"Me too." Nami said with a smile. "Anyone in particular you want to take out?"  
Kuro smiles a bit as he puts his hands behind his head. "Blues and the other Kuro. I'm not a fan of water. So I want to test my abilities against the water dragon and god slayer. It'll be a fun challenge after all the training that Daityas has given me."  
"Hai! I can't wait to see that either! Your match with Risley Law wasn't even a warm up. You really have come a long way Kuro. And it seems that you were able to make friends with a guy that used to be a leader of a dark guild. Only you could do so."  
Kuro flushed red a bit from the complements. "T-thanks.. I'm just ready...I want to win, for Reve and Sidney, Jack and Zalen. They saved me, so they deserve my best efforts."  
Nami giggles. "So noble."  
Takeru and Selene were on the other side of the room. Takeru was throwing punches into Selene's diamond scaled arms, ducking the occasional swing from her.  
"Always keep your head up. Not every fight is gonna be one on one out there. Save your White Shadow for when you need it." Selene kept coaching while Takeru listened and kept punching. "When you win, it's all the pie you can eat."  
Kairi, Skye and Heather all stood leaning against a table. Kairi was the know one sitting due to her knee. "We believe in you Heather." Kairi stated.  
"Yeah we do! You can win!" Skye added. Heather manages a smirk and nods. "This is for you, ladies. I'll take Gajeel and Erza if I have to."  
"Erza..." Heather whispered to herself. Her eyes become narrow, until she spots Luke in the corner of the room with his fingers entangled with one another. She gets up and walks over, sitting down across from the copy mage. "Hey.." Heather smiles at Luke. He looks up from his zone and smile back. "Hey."  
"You alright?"  
Luke nods. "Just ready to go."  
"Yeah, this is going to be intense."  
"Very... But we can handle it."  
Heather nods and smirks as she playfully hits Luke on the knee. "At least I can. I'm not too sure about you."  
"Hey! Heh..we'll see in.. Forty five minutes."

"My soul is quivering." Bacchus stood up from the bar. Behind him, was Kuro, Blues, Rocker and Yaegar. He still had a bruise on his forehead from the headbutts, but no bandages. He swirled his gourd around to make the sound of a liquid inside, swooshing around. As he turns around, he looks at his team. Kuro stood with his arms crossed as Blues was fixing his tie. Yaegar and Rocker stood there calmly as well as Bacchus nodded to all of them. They all follow him out as the begin their walk to the arena.

Millianna, Araña, Risley and Beth all waited for their leader. Kagura finishes tying the bow on top of her head and slides on her boots. She stares at the mirror for a few minutes, seeing her comrades in the reflection of the oval mirror. She sighs to clear her mind, and then grabs her sheathed sword, gripping it tightly as she hooks it to her hip. She rises and walks to her guild mates. They all exchange nods as they walk out toy the arena, preparing for the all out fight that was about to come.

.  
"Here we go. Last chance to take bets! Who's gonna win!" Ruika held her hand out as Tartaros was posted on the same tower as always. Maggie juggled a bag if jewels in her hand as she stayed in thought. "You know what? Put it all on them Fairy Tail blokes for me."  
"Ah she's going with the heavy favorite! What about you Kiora!? Tobias?"  
Kiora pondered in thought for a few seconds. "I'm going with White Eclipse!" She said as she puts her bag of jewel down.  
"I'm going with White Eclipse too." Tobias tosses his bag to Ruika.  
"Wait, change my mind! Tobias is bad luck, I'm going with a Fairy Tail." Kiora yells out.  
"Asshole..."  
Sora slides a plate of brownies to the middle. "All in! Quatro Cerberus will win!"  
"Gee thanks Sora. Brownies instead of money. Such a sweet little girl." Ruika says with sarcasm. "Anyone else want in on this?" No one answers her. Instead, Rugal, Arcturus and Daityas stand side by side as they waited for the final event to begin. They all look down at the teams inside the arena. "It seems White Eclipse made a heavy switch. And looky there." Daityas grins. "Sister Taya is competing."  
"Oh really now?!" Kiora Maggie and Ruika come up to the edge as Sora jumps on Arc's back. He lifts her up on his shoulders. "She better mop the bloody floor with them mages."  
"Heh...how cute, still have concern for those who betrayed you." Arc chimes in.  
Before Kiora could obliviously spout from her mouth how Arc was the exact same as Tayakata, Daityas turns and gives her the evil eye, signaling her to not say a word. Kiora slowly closes her mouth as she awkwardly averts her eyes back it the arena.

.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Here we are! The quickly sprung upon us final day of the Grand! Magic! Games!" Chapati yells into the microphone with excitement. "It's still anyone's game as you can see the leaderboard hovering above you. The finale never changed yet it never disappoints! It's time for the all out battle in the city if Crocus!" The crowd goes into an uproar of excitement and participation. "Now! All teams have been given their starting marks. Will you all please take your carriages to these spots." Chapati keeps talking as the teams all separate into their starting points in the city. "Just like last time, each team has a captain. Defeat the captain and that's five points for your team. Everyone else is worth one point. The fight goes on until one team is left standing. But it's the team with the most points who will be crowned the strongest guild and Grand Magic Games champion!"  
Each team stands at their starting point. "Oh my where are my manners! Ladies and gentlemen we have two special guests with us today to watch the finale of the games. Welcome, the return of Councilmen Siegrain and Councilwoman Ultear!"  
"What!?" Erza's eyes widened in shock before anyone else's.  
"Siegrain!?" Natsu shouted in confusion.  
"Ultear too!?" Gray added, also in shock And confusion. The entire B team looks over at Mystogan. He just merely looks at the ground. "First things first Fairy Tail!" Laxus shouted. "We have a reputation to keep!"  
"Right!" They all yell in unison.  
"Jellal..." Erza thinks to herself. "What aren't you sharing? Why did you release Siegrain"  
"Alright!" Chapati screams at the top of his lungs. "Mages ready!"  
"Remember the plan fellas." Reve smirks as a gun starts to form in his right hand.  
"Right." Jack nodded as waited with the others.  
Kuro, Waiston and Takeru simply stay readied. Waiting for their strategy to take place.  
"You guys remember the plan right!?" Erza asked.  
"Aye sir!" Natsu fist pumped.  
"Right!" Wendy nodded in excitement.  
"Lets do this." Gray smirks as he gets ready to take off.  
"Hai.. I'm ready!" Lucy says as she grips her keys.  
"And!"  
"Begin!"  
The second he heard "begin," Reve finished requiping the gun into his hand. It was a flare gun, he points it to the sky and fires it. The flare shoots into the air and explodes, giving off their location.  
"That has to be a trap." Erza says out loud as her and the team continue running. "Sorry White Eclipse, but we have our own plan."  
"You see it Heather?" Taya asked as the flare goes off.  
"You can't miss it Tayakata. Everyone behind me."  
Everyone takes a step back behind Heather as she builds up her magic pressure. A purple magic circles begins to form as she inhales deeply, as much air as she possibly could.  
"Jaxon! You ready!?" Taya turned to weather Mage.  
"One huge hurricane coming up!" A green magic circle appears under Jaxon as he too begins building up magic pressure. The two combined mages power begins shaking the entire city.  
"Roar, of the Poison Dragon!"  
"Kairos hurricane!"  
Heather fires off a ginormous funnel of poison straight ahead down the street. The force behind the funnel knocked over a bunch of random stands and such. As the funnel roared towards an intersection, the sky quickly darkened, and in the next second, a massive wind blew in different directions. It split the funnel of poison to both the left and right, leaving the middle wide open. The poison funnels kept traveling until the force behind it was gone. Even though this happened, the poison gas still lingered in the streets.  
"Oh no..." Mavis covered her mouth in shock.  
"This isn't good... It's like they knew we weren't taking the middle." Makarov groaned in displeasure.  
"Of course we knew." Sidney stated out loud. Makarov looked over at the SS class mage and the master of White Eclipse, who looked back at them grinning.  
"After all Makarov." Calium chimed in. "We all know it's not your strategy. If it was you, you would of went straight ahead."  
"What are you saying Calium?" Makarov asked, a little peeved at his tone.  
"What he's saying is." Sidney then points directly at the "invisible" Mavis. "I can see your first master, the fairy tactician. I saw her the first day. I am a ghost mage you know. Seeing souls is a curse and a blessing."  
"W-what!?" Mavis's face goes completely blue as the rest of the guild look on in shock.  
"First master are you okay!?" Levy called out.  
"This is a good test for me, Mavis." Sidney continued. "I like strategy as well. So lets see what I got against the tactician. So far I'm winning."  
Back on the battlefield, Reve and his team look up as the witness the hurricane.  
"That's our signal! Go!" Everyone but Reve take off and split into their respective directions. As they do so, Reve's pupils change into targets. They begin to shift around relentlessly as he spreads out his arms and widens his stance. "Devil's wheel: Long Range." Just above the the city, ten sniper like guns surround the entire area. Unseen to anyone who doesn't look towards the sky. Which in this case was no one but the White Eclipse members.  
"Heh..." Takeru smirks as he continues running and sniffing the air. "I'm coming for you Natsu."

"It seems those clowns have a legit strategy." Kiora says as she taps Sora on her opposite shoulder, causing her to look. She then takes her last brownie and stuff it in her mouth. Sora looks back at the tray, and then at Kiora, who quickly points at Tobias. Sora then jumps on Tobias's back and bites his arm causing him to scream and flail about.  
"Yeah.. I just want to see who gives the first and last Molly whopping." Maggie replies.  
"I hope the celestial loser go down first. I hope they die. I hope their contracts expire. That doesn't happen until death so you get the idea." Ruika was literally seething again, watching Lucy and Yukino run about.  
"Issues honey." Kiora says as she looks back at Ruika, swallowing her brownie.  
"Shut it." Ruika replied.

Back in the city, Bacchus fades off to the right while everyone else in Quatro Cerberus had went in their own direction. He was running, waiting to run into someone until he came to an abrupt halt, seeing the poison must float low to the ground. "What's this? Poison. What a wild strategy. Against someone who isn't me maybe. He narrows his eyes as he looks past the mist, seeing a few openings. "Heh.." He takes a few steps back and then leaps into the air to the safe zone. At the peak of his jump, something sparkles in the sky. It catches his eye. "...it was a trap! Shit!" Just then, a small beam of magic comes roaring in. With quick instincts, Bacchus barrel rolls out the way, but the sniper shot still slams into his right thigh. "Gah!" Bacchus hits the ground, in the safe zone however, yet he wasn't out of the fire yet. Another glimmering light appears and rushes towards Bacchus. He rolls out of the way, causing the bullet to miss, but he rolls right into the poison. Holding his breath, the poison gave him cover away from Reve's target eyes, yet he was running out of air soon...  
"Yes. Heather's poison, Jaxon's weather magic to send the poison flying everywhere. And Reve's target eyes and Long range Devil's wheel combination. And we're just getting started." Sidney nods his head in appreciation of his own strategy.  
"Dammit.." Makarov growls. "Those brats will know a way around it."  
Gajeel was running full speed when the poison appeared. Now caught in it he held his hand over his mouth as he looked for a way out. "D-dammit!" Gajeel stands on his tip toes, just above the mist as he inhales the air. He then fires off a small Iron Dragon's roar, pushing the poison out the way to clear a path, but not actually dispersing it. "There, nows my chance to get out of this poison."  
"Web shot!"  
"Nekōsoku Tube!" Before Gajeel could move, he found his arms wrapped in a rubber like tube and his legs held down by webs. "An ambush!? You two wimps can't hold me down for long!"  
"But they can hold you for long enough." Gajeel's eyes widen as he looks up at Kagura who was standing sideways on a building thanks to her gravity manipulation. She lands on the ground across from Gajeel.  
"Shit! I can't use my magic cause of this stupid cat lady!"  
"We'll be ending your run short here." Kagura crouches a bit and grips her sword. In the next second, a huge slash was seen as she ends up on the other side of Gajeel. As Millianna and Araña let go, Gajeel falls backwards white eyed.

"That's one for Mermaid Heel." Kagura says as she walks off.

Levy covers her mouth as she watches on from the screen.  
"...No."


	39. Chapter 39

White Eclipse  
Chapter 39

"...No.."  
Gajeel hit the ground, laying there with no movement. A small floating lacrima screen comes floating over the mage to give the call that's he's out of the fight.  
"I'm sure he wasn't the captain though." Araña says.  
"That's fine! One point at a time!" Millianna replied.  
"Come." Kagura continues walking until she readies her gravity manipulation magic. "Lets go before the poison takes the streets again."  
"Right!" The two girls say in unison. Millianna jogged toward Kagura.  
Araña took a step forward, only to have her foot grabbed. "What the!?"  
"Gihe!" Kagura and Millianna turn to see Araña being thrown to the right by a now bruised, but standing Gajeel. He follow his toss with an iron pole, slamming right into her face. The pole adds more force and momentum as she slams into a building, out cold. The miniature lacrima screen goes to check on Araña, and after a few seconds, counts her as KO'ed, giving Fairy Tail B one point.  
"How!?" Kagura looked on in shock along with Millianna.  
"You really think one slice from that puny sword has anything against the iron dragon slayer!?" Gajeel taunted, though the giant gash on his chest was all but invisible. Yet, Gajeel still grinned sadistically as if he was unphased.  
"I'll show you!"  
"Millianna wait!" Kagura reached out and shouted for her, but it was too late.  
"Nekōsoku Tube!" She fires off another strand of the rubbery tube directed at Gajeel, but with that same smirk plastered on his face, he merely side steps the incoming attack. He then aims a right hook to Millianna. She ducks and swings a left high kick that Gajeel easily blocks. Millianna continues throwing a barrage of punches and kicks, until Gajeel ducks a spinning kick she threw. Millianna comes full circle to an iron pole uppercut. The pole extending high into the air just to lift Millianna into the sky.  
"Millianna!" Kagura yells out as Millianna hits the ground, unconscious. The lacrima screen does its look over and then rewards Gajeel and his team the point. Gajeel then turns his head, leaning back a bit as he grins at Kagura. "If you run, Kagura, I won't blame you. I have a plan to execute and you're holding me back."  
Kagura scowls as she crouches and grips her sword. She averts her eyes back to the poison gas that was slowly moving back to the middle of the street. She then looked back at Gajeel with a small smirk of her own.  
"Run? I've faced worst things than an iron eating mage." She twists her sword a bit as Gajeel crouches into a readied stance.  
"I'll cut you down with one slice."  
"That ship has already sailed. Gihe!"

.  
"The middle. In the middle, everyone is converging soon. They have no choice unless they choose to take their chances with the poison, and Heather's poison isn't something to toy with." Sidney continues to talk aloud his strategy as the events occur. "And that's only the beginning. With Reve's target eyes and his long ranged Devil's wheel, your options of movement are very limited." He looks over at Mavis and Makarov, seeing the worried looks on their faces. "We're just getting started. We're the strongest team."  
"Yeah!" Skye screams out. "Because it's White Eclipse!"  
"Or second place." Sidney stated as he turns back to the lacrima screen.  
Back in the city, Rufus walks around, looking for an opponent alone. Every street he comes to doesn't take long before cutting off and causing him to turn left. "Hm? I don't remember the streets being like this." Rufus turns left again, and again. "Yeah, this is definitely wrong." Rufus then stops in the middle of the street as he stares straight ahead at the building right before the left turn. "I see it now." He says as he turns around, staring at the other building, which looked exactly like the one right behind him. "They're the exact same building. But how?" As Rufus turns back around to the first building he stared at, Nami comes sliding around the corner with her hands cupped. A glowing bright light was formed as a ball between her cupped hands.  
"Huh!?" Rufus turns around as Nami thrusts her arms forward, firing off a giant stream off light. "Holy Nova!"  
"Our next step." Sidney states. "Get rid of who you believe the dark horse is."  
Nami fires her giant beam of light, and it hurls towards Rufus, yet, it goes right through the mage. "That was just your memory of where I last was" Rufus says as he appears a bit off to the right from the giant blast. "Oh I know." Nami replies with a smirk. Rufus raises a brow at her confidence, and just then. The building behind Rufus shatters like the mirror it was. Behind the now broken pieces, was Luke, who conjures up another motto using a magic circle. He tilts his magic circle as the beam of light hits it. The beam then comes roaring back towards Rufus at an even faster pace. "What!?" Rufus was too off guard, and the reflected Holy Nova slams into the Memory Make Mage, causing him to go flying into the nearest building, right past Nami, out cold, giving a point to Eclipse B.  
"They knew Rufus was going to use his memory make magic to dodge,  
So the mirror Luke created was not only a distraction, it was used to reflect the light magic back at Rufus once he dodged." Mavis looks on with concern at the screen, then turns and smirks at Sidney. "I must say, he's got it figured out."  
"But he hasn't touched any of us yet!" Makarov said as he began laughing.  
"He's not planning to." Mavis replied, which stopped Makarov's laughter. "What do you mean first master?" Macao asked.  
"Isn't it obvious? They want us. Ten on ten, or at least the exact number of whoever is left. My strategy was created for us to win. Sidney's...was created to single out Fairy Tail..."  
Luke and Nami simply nod and grin at each other as they both take off in opposite directions.  
Lamia scale jogged together, planning to attack as a team. With Lyon and Jura leading the way, they took a right and ran down a long road in the city of Crocus.  
"These streets are pretty empty for it to be inhabited by eight teams!" Chelia called out as she ran behind Lyon, who was right begin Jura. Yuka and Toby brought up the rear. "That is strange, so keep your eyes peeled." Lyon replied.  
"This is our chance for a comeback OOOO-"  
Toby's words were cut off. While he was talking...Takeru sprouted from the ground after traveling in his shadow form, similar to the one Rogue uses. He had grabbed Toby from behind and pulled him down through the ground using his shadow form. Everyone stops running due to Toby not finishing his sentence. "Toby? Toby!?" Yuka calls out for him as they all begin to look around frantically, not seeing a single person in sight. However, White Eclipse A's score was seen going up a point. From the wall of a random building in front of Chelia, Toby was seen being spat out by a shadow. The shadow quickly disappears as Chelia yelps then covers her mouth at Toby's heavily bruised yet unconscious body. "Toby!" Lyon yells and sets to run for him, but Jura grabs Lyon and forces him to his back. The remaining four mages now stand back to back, keeping their eyes peeled.  
"Well! This is quite exciting!" Siegrain says as he laughs. "Wouldn't you say Ultear?"  
Ultear stood beside the seated Siegrain with a smirk on her face and her youth restored. The once curvaceous time ark mage stood once again, as if her age had never accelerated. "I'll admit. White Eclipse is showing a real sadistic side to them. Which is something every guild needs to be successful."  
"Tch...anyone see anything!?" Lyon called out.  
"Nothing.." Yuka replied as he growled.  
"Not yet.." Chelia chimed in. Just then, a sparkle in the sky catches the eye of the Sky god slayer. "Huh?" A beam of magic comes roaring towards her at such an incredible pace. She lets out a yell as she couldn't really regain herself to react.  
"Not on my watch!" Yuka jumps a few feet in front of Chelia, and disperses the bullet with his wave magic. Chelia opens her eyes from the wincing, preparing for the strike to see that Yuka had saved her. "Y-Yuka.." She said with a thankful smile.  
Yuka turned his head to her and have a cheesy smile. As he did so, like a zombie from the grave, Takeru rose from the ground, out of his shadow form in front of the unaware Yuka. His hair covering his eyes, making him look even scarier than he actually was. Chelia's eyes widen, but she couldn't get a word out fast enough. "Yuka!" Lyon and Jura yelled at the same time, but it was too late. Takeru had Yuka in a hold and dragged him through the ground, reactivating his shadow form. "Yuka!" Chelia called out for him, but a few seconds later, White Eclipse A's score changes again, giving them another point.  
"That bastard!" Lyon growls as he clenches a fist, watching Yuka resurface from the ground, bruised and unconscious.  
"And just like that, we're only down by five." Sidney says with a smug tone. "And we haven't hit a captain yet. My guess is that it's Jura, he's the strongest."  
"Maybe Sidney, but then again, Lyon is a very prideful person." Calium added.  
"Either way master, their both about to go down."  
"Lyon! Jura! So something!" Chelia cried out.  
"Get ahold of yourself Chelia!" Lyon yelled out, causing her to jump a little, but straighten up. "We have to stay alert. There's bullets coming from the sky, yet they're just a distraction. That shadow dragon slayer is the one doing the damage."  
"Don't underestimate Reve, Lyon-Dono. He is their S class after all."  
"No time for admiration Jura!" Lyon yelled back. As he did, the ground began to shake. "Jura?" Chelia called out, confused.  
"That's not me- everyone out the way!" Jura pushed Lyon and Chelia out of the radius of the brown magic circle that had quickly appeared under them, leaving Jura by himself as the stone path from under him collapses, causing Jura to fall underground. Walking around the corner, was Jack Royal. He holds out a palm and then clenches a fist as the rumbling becomes heavier. Suddenly, the hole Jura fell through, violently closes. Jack comes into Lyon and Chelia's view as he takes a swig from the wine bottle in his hand. "Aye... They need to redo the wizard saints list, and just give them to the ten strongest White Eclipse mages." As Jack chuckles, White Eclipse A's score changes again. This time...by five points. Jack then begins to let out a drunken laugh as he saw the score change. "Well then! Looks like I hit the jackpot with that one!"  
"I knew it." Sidney says as he crosses his arms, pleased at Jack. "It was Jura that was captaining this event.  
Makarov begins to laugh. Everyone turns to him, his guild and White Eclipse both.  
"What's so funny?" Sidney asked.  
"Enlighten me as well." Mavis said in a concerned tone.  
"You guys really have proven to be a thorn in Fairy Tail's side. We were over here sweating you guys and you haven't even went at us yet." Makarov continues laughing. "This is good. We have no problem ramming our foots down your throat, since you're asking for it."  
"That's cute." Sidney shrugs as he turns back to the screen.  
"Oh don't be so quiet now ghost mage Sidney. I want to hear you preach, all the way up to when Fairy Tail and White Eclipse meet. Don't let me stop your bold words."

Erza does sliding back from a small explosion, still in her normal armor and a single sword in her hand. Rocker comes out from the cloud of dust, his lower body spinning as he charged Erza once more. Erza closes her eyes, and with a shift of her sword, she ducks under Rocker's next punch, then slices right past the Mage, knocking Rocker clean out. The mini lacrima gives Rocker an unneeded look over and then rewards Fairy Tail A the point.  
GoldMine facepalms and sighs, but doesn't say anything else as he continues watching.  
"I believe that put us up by one." Erza says as she looks around for where to head to next. With her back turned, a whip made of water, yet hard as steel, comes swinging towards her. Erza perks up and quickly jumps away, causing the whip to miss. It hits the ground, bringing up a piece of the ground due to impact. Erza grips her sword with two hands as she now stares down Blues, the aquatic dragon slayer.  
"Ehe..." Blues smirks as he fixes his tie. "Erza Scarlet has to be the captain of Fairy Tail team A without a doubt. I'll have the pleasure of taking her out."  
Behind Blues, a clearing of the throat was heard, as Kuro of Quatro Cerberus walk up to the left of Blues.  
"Excuse me, /We'll/ have the pleasure of taking you out, Erza."  
"The water Dragon and the water God slayer of Quatro Cerberus. Not a bad situation." Erza begins to glow her golden aura as she quickly shifts into her Sea Empress armor.  
"The Sea Empress armor." Kuro stated. "The armor that helps protect against water based attacks. The keyword is helps. We have plenty of time, our aquatic skills will still get through you, two on one." As Kuro finished talking, the two mages thrust their arms forward, firing off two well sized funnels of water, both hard as steel, spinning towards Erza. She braced herself for impact.  
"Ice make:" At the last second, Gray Fullbuster slides in front of Erza and with his back to Blues and Kuro, he goes down to a knee as he spreads his arms out. "Shield!" Upon the call of his technique, a shield made completely of ice stands in front of him and Erza as the two funnels of water slam against it. Blues and Kuro stop firing and the shield disperses.  
"Looks like it's not a two on one anymore." Gray states, already losing his jacket and shirt. "You guys aren't too far off behind us, so getting rid of you both would do us a big favor."  
Blues smiles as he readies himself along with Kuro. "Well by all means. Bring it on fairies!"

"Lets go I have brownies riding on you guys!" Sora shouted. Rugal lets out a chuckle from her cheering.  
"Maybe I should have bet on White Eclipse." Kiora says. "They have such a good plan going. It's almost rude."  
"Too late now." Tobias said, interrupting Kiora. Kiora then put her foot to Tobias's back and shoved him off the tower. "Didn't ask you!" Tobias yells all the way down until he slams into the ground face first in an animated fashion.  
Daityas's eyes were on his "star pupil" Kuro.  
"What's your guy doing Daityas?" Rugal asked, referring to Kuro Crane who was once running, but now stood in the middle of the street, right before an intersection.  
"Waiting..." Daityas replied, not adding anything to it.  
"Well the bloke better hurry up with his blasted waiting. That poison is about to come from the left street." Maggie looked on, curious as to what Kuro was going to do about the situation.  
"What do you think he's waiting on,  
Maggie?" Arc added. "He doesn't see it yet like we do. Not from his angle, but I'm sure this is part of the plan. Look to the right street."  
Maggie looks over to the opposite street of the poison gas, but Ruika spots him first.  
"Hey that's that Sabertooth guy, Orga." Ruika chimes in.  
"It makes sense now. What a sound strategy." Kiora says. "Kuro is about to head to the street opposite of the incoming poison."  
"And he's prepared. Orga isn't. Kuro knows that someone is going to be over there. Orga doesn't know when his next opponent is coming." Rugal nods to his own comment as all eyes were on Kuro.  
Kuro's eyes were on the intersection,  
And just like that, from the left, he spots the poison gas from Heather begin to flow. Upon spotting the gas, Kuro slams his hands together as a bright red magic circle appears. "Fire make: Hermes!" From the ankles of his feet, two small wings made of flames come out from both sides of each foot. He immediately takes off running at a tremendous speed leaving a small trail of fire behind him. Just beating the poison, he turns to the right, and then takes another left, spotting Orga straight ahead. "Huh?" Orga spots a red blur coming his way, but before he could react, Kuro slams a right hook to the bulky lightning God slayers. Orga goes sliding backwards, yet he holds his ground as he winces from the shot. "You just messed up kid!" Orga roared as he faced off against Kuro.  
"Okay, pause again. Am I the only one who is certain that that was the worst way to capitalize on that situation? Orga is too big for that, he should of used a fire make technique right?" Kiora continued questioning Kuro's actions as she looked on.  
"I agree." Maggie added. "He could of KO'ed him with one shot but he did that instead."  
Arc smirks. "He's saving magic. Man, whoever planned this attack strategy needs a gold star."  
"Saving magic? What's he gonna do, fight Orga hand to hand?" Ruika asked. "I'm sorry but I don't care what training he got from hell boy over here, Kuro is a twig compared to Orga."  
Arc laughs a bit, causing Sora to giggle as Arc's shoulders move up and down, giving her a mini roller coaster ride. "Are you sure you ladies are ready to take over Fiore?"  
"Whatcha tryna say?" Kiora asked, a bit annoyed as she narrowed her eyes. Tobias was making his way back up the tower since no one would help him. Kiora spots the mage clawing his way back up over the ledge and quickly kicks him off again, listening to the animated screams of Tobias falling towards the ground. No one seemed to care at all as he hit the ground again.  
"I'm saying look at the surroundings. Kuro left a small trail of fire with his Hermes. Poison gas is heading towards them. Kuro can manipulate his own fire. And finally, I'm almost positive that the girl's poison gas is highly flammable."  
"Oh my Zeref, Orga is about to be blown to pieces." Ruika shouted.  
"At least someone's catching on." Arc replied.  
At the time, Tobias once again was panting, making his way back up the tower. Kiora spots him hanging over the ledge once again, and kicks him again, only this time, Tobias grabs her foot and smirks. "Not..this time!" Tobias pulls Kiora by the leg and throws Kiora off. Fortunately for her, Kiora was grabbed by Maggie before she fell.  
"Tobias what the hell is wrong with you!?" Ruika yelled.  
"Did you just try throw your own member off this tower!?" Maggie yelled.  
"...Seriously!?" Tobias looked at them both dumbfounded.  
"Bad Tobias!" Sora yelled as she pointed at him.  
"Dude...that's low even for a dark Mage." Rugal added.  
"This can't really be happening..."  
"I live for the cruel and unusual. But your actions took things too far Tobias." Arc shakes his head while still watching the lacrima screen.  
"Not you too Arc."  
"We'll talk about your punishment later Tobias." Daityas says as he too continues to watch the screen.  
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!? SHE PUSHED ME OFF TWICE!" Tobias yelled in a rage.  
"Tobias I thought we were friends...guild-mates...family..." Kiora sniffles as she covers her face from the "traumatic" situation she was just in.  
"STOP FAKING!"  
"Shut up Tobias!" Sora yells out as she gives a mean look to the mage.  
"I... I give up.."  
Tobias sighs as he turns back to the lacrima screen, only to be blind sided /again/ by Kiora. She leans over the edge while he falls.  
"You forgot who you was messing with!? I run this shit!"  
Back at the fight, Kuro literally ran circles around Orga every step he took as the fire make Mage continued to throw punches and kicks at his blind spot. Orga couldn't really do anything except cover up, as he was too slow for Kuro at this state. "Stay still!" Orga roared as he fired a black lightning infused that somehow slammed into Kuro's stomach, causing him to tumble off a bit down the street. He stands, holding his stomach as Orga stares him down. "Now that you're not running everywhere! It's time to finish this off!" Orga grins as he inhales. Kuro does nothing but smirk as he stalled the bulky mage long enough. As Orga inhaled the air, Heather's poison gas had crept towards Orga, just now surrounding him. He incidentally inhales some of the poison and immediately goes down to both knees coughing, gasping for air. Kuro begins to walk away as Orga continues trying to fight the poison. "W-wait!" Orga coughs out he slowly makes his way to his feet. "I'm not done!"  
Kuro turns around with a smile from ear to ear with his patented innocent look. "Sorry Orga. But not only are you done, so is everyone near the poison." Kuro snaps his fingers, and in that second, the tiny trails of fire he left from the fire make: Hermes ignites into bigger flames. They make contact with the poison gas. The poison gas then acts as a trail as a massive explosion ignites due to the fire coming in contact with the poison.  
"And this." Sidney Castle says. "This is how you use Kuro."  
Orga was surrounded by Kuro's trail of fire and the poison gas. And just like that, he was caught in a massive explosion. Safe to say that White Eclipse A gained another point. Kuro continues walking away as the poison and fire combination now makes it's way around the town.  
"Anyone see any of ours caught in the poison!?" Makarov yelled.  
"It's hard to see anything now." Mavis replied. "The explosions have grabbed the attention of all the screens."  
"And I thought the fairies had no remorse for destruction." Siegrain says in an amused manner.  
"Think! Who did you last see in the poison!?"  
Levy's eyes light up. "Gajeel!"  
"Shit!" Makarov gripped the top of his head in worry.  
"Oh? Gajeel is in the way?" Sidney smirked under his scarf. "That's too bad, I was hoping for ten on ten, but things don't always go as planned." Seething, Makarov growls as he clenches his fist.

Gajeel and Kagura was still in standoff. They both take a step forward, then feel a rumbling going on in the city.  
"Jura? No...he's been eliminated. That Jack guy?" Gajeel continued to ponder the shaking, as well as Kagura. Then it happened. From behind, an explosive trail slams into Kagura from behind as she lets out an agonizing scream. Gajeel's eyes widen and with no time to really react, he covers up with his arms like an X as the explosions take him over. ...

.  
"This isn't wild at all." Bacchus was still jumping from safe zone to safe zone through the poison. "I need to find a way out of this stuff. I already feel the effects." As he hopped to the last safe zone, he saw that his last jump consisted of a street clear of poison. "Finally!" But before he could ready himself. The shaking of the area caught up to Bacchus. Knocking him off balance. A second behind the shaking, the explosive trail comes storming in behind, now headed towards Bacchus's way. With wide eyes, Bacchus quickly makes his way to his feet and without much momentum he leaps for the street, only to be consumed by the explosion anyways...

.  
Lucy lets out a long sigh. "Where is everyone. I wanna fight and prove I can win for Fairy Tail! I will win my fights! I won't be eliminated!" Lucy clenches a fist as she turned a couple corners and made her way down the street. As she walked, she saw Heather running across the next intersection. As Heather came to the cross roads, she turns her head and smirks at Lucy, all while still running.  
"Hey! Don't run!" Lucy then takes off after Heather. A few seconds later, she turns in the direction that Heather had ran to, quickly stopping after a couple of strides, realizing that she was shins deep in poison. "Huh?" She quickly covers her mouth as she begins to cough from the small amount of poison she inhaled. "Poison? When...did this happen? Heather of course!" Lucy tries to regain herself, but as she does, the rumbling becomes heavy around Lucy. "What's going on now!?" She looked around for an answer, and she got one as a trail of fiery explosions headed right for her. With nowhere to go, she lets out a loud scream as she desperately covers up, bracing herself for impact...

Until a figure, at the last second, sprints to and slides in front of Lucy. With his arms out, standing in front of the celestial mage,  
He take the brunt of the explosion.

The explosion still seemingly swallowing them both.


	40. Chapter 40

White Eclipse  
Chapter 40

"A work of art. Good job Kuro." Sidney tugs on his scarf to show respect to the fire make mage; something he rarely did unless he showed true respect to a mage for his or her strength. "I set that up, and I'm still impressed." Sidney then turns a bit to Makarov and Mavis as they kept their eyes on the screen, looking for Gajeel and Lucy, the two mages that they saw caught in the blast. "I'm sure once the smoke clears they'll reward us our points."  
Makarov and Mavis both chuckle, and then begin laughing out loud. Once again, looks of confusion dawn upon them.  
"Okay, and what is it now?" Sidney asked, a bit annoyed. Mavis comes to a low giggle as she begins to speak. "I have to admit Sidney, you're quite the strategic expert. This was an original strategy, using your guild mates magic together perfectly to take out the competition, or lack their of in your case. But theirs one thing that you forgot to add into your formula Sidney."  
The Ghost Mage raises a brow. "And that is...?"  
"The will of the mages." Makarov chimed in. As he spoke, he pointed to the screen, showing Bacchus struggling to his feet, but well aware and conscious. He coughed a bit, and winced from the bruising and pain he just went through, and his armor was broken into pieces all the way up to his biceps, but nonetheless, he rose. GoldMine smirks as he chimed in. "Take notes on this lesson kid. You can never count out the will of a mage." Calium can't help but smile, even with Sidney showing clear agitation. Sidney looked back at board, seeing that only one point was recorded so far for White Eclipse A.  
"Well, I know we got Gajeel and Kagura. We all watched them become consumed by the explosion indefinitely." As Sidney ended his statement his eyes narrowed as he gripped the railing, nearly breaking off a chunk from his grip. The lacrima screen was now fixated on Gajeel and Kagura's area, and slowly rising from the smoke was Gajeel, covered completely in his iron scales. He made his way up to his feet as he swayed a bit. "D-darn! That was close." Gajeel panted as he held his chest from the combining pain of Kagura's sword and the recent explosion. Across from him, Kagura stabbed her sheathed sword into the ground, using it as leverage to pull herself up. She too huffed out in pain and exhaustion. Putting her sword back on her hip, she hunched over, hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.  
"There's no way..." Sidney looked on, baffled at the fact that they were okay. "Gajeel and Kagura are lost points." Calium said. "Bacchus is still up for grabs. But Gajeel and Kagura will finish each other off."  
GoldMine simply chuckles at the Bacchus comment.  
"If you think that's bad..." Makarov says as he smiles from ear to ear. He doesn't say anything else as the entire guild gives a smug look over to White Eclipse, including Mavis.  
"What are you all smiling at? Your celestial mage doesn't have defense like that. There's no way she could of survived."  
"You're right Sidney." Levy replied. "Lucy doesn't have such endurance to survive an explosion of sorts."  
"But what she does have.." Macao adds. An inhaling sound is heard from where Lucy was. The inhaling went on for seconds on in. All of what was left of the explosion was slowing converging to the one spot where Lucy and the figure stood. As the area cleared, Lucy was unharmed, still on the ground shielding herself, until she looked up to see his scarf waving in the wind. He finishes inhaling the fiery explosion and wipes his chin. "Man...I'm stuffed."  
Natsu turns and gives Lucy a thumbs up, and then holds his hand out to help her up.  
"Natsu..." Lucy, at first shocked, smiles as she reaches for his hand and pulls herself up.  
"He's always saving me." She thought to herself as she dusted herself off.  
"Bullshit.." Sidney's grip on the railing tightened, breaking off the chunk he was holding onto.  
Makarov let out another boisterous laugh. "So, that great unison raid, and you received one point from it."  
A small smile creeps onto Calium's face, catching Makarov's attention.  
"That's fine. It's just like I told you when you were coming up with this Sidney."  
"Every plan needs a backup plan. And a plan behind that." Sidney recites these words from memory as he loosens the clenching of his fist.  
Makarov stops the taunting to turn back go the screens, folding his arms to watch everything play out.  
"This is going to come down to the first one to land a strike." Kagura thought to herself. "Our strategy was risky, and we're now paying for it, but I can make up for it. I just need to strike first. I have to. I will." "Here I come Gajeel!" She yells out as she rushes towards him, wincing with every step stride she finished, her body was at the limit, yet so was Gajeel as he swayed back and forth to keep balance. "Iron Dragon...Hard fist!" In the midst of Kagura's swing of the blade, Gajeel fires his steel coated fist with what he had left, meeting the blade halfway. A small shockwave occurs from the stalemate, but a second later, Gajeel lets out a roar as he pushes through, breaking Kagura's blade in half and then slamming into her stomach. The force of the blow immediately sends Kagura tumbling backwards into the ground. The mini lacrima screen hovers over to her, and after a few seconds, Fairy Tail B gains another point. Kagura was passed out.  
"Hm? Only one point? That's not right is it?" Gajeel looked up at the screen, waiting for the other four points to show, but they never did. "So...if Kagura isn't the captain..."  
"Then Risley or Beth is." Calium states. "Witty strategy by Mermaid Heel. They knew if they wanted points they were going to have to let Kagura loose, so just in case she went down, they gave the captain slot to someone who probably wouldn't be looked for. It's too bad their offense went down so early, but that was due to Gajeel's stamina, they had Redfox right where they wanted him. Truth be told, they could of been a real problem if it wasn't for the Fairy." Calium grins a bit. "Preaching to us about the will of mages. As if we aren't familiar with the attribute. Keep underestimating us Makarov, Mavis."

(Quick Flashback)  
"Okay!? You got the plan right!?" Sting exclaims as he continues running with Rogue.  
Rogue nods as he runs beside his best friend, looking straight ahead. "Their plan is flawed. That Reve guy is firing from everywhere, but I'm almost positive that he hasn't left from where he fired the flare gun. I'll take him out before he realizes I'm there."  
Sting grins widely at Rogue. "Right! And in the meantime, I'll pick off who I can so we can make this comeback."  
Rogue nods again as he gives Sting a relaxed look, the closest thing that he was gonna get to a smile from the shadow dragon slayer. "See you later, Sting."  
At the intersection, they both take opposite turns, Rogue goes into his shadow mode, flowing under the poison while Sting takes the clear path.  
(End Flashback)

"People are missing." Said Reve as his eyes shifted around. His target eyes allowed him to take on the vision of each sniper scope in the air anytime he pleased. His eyes were constantly shifting, moving from scope to scope to keep tabs on everyone. The only downfall to his target eyes; Reve couldn't see out of his own eyes normally while they were activated. "Tch...Erza and Fullbuster and those two Cerberus boys, The other fairies just now about to find some action. Oh! There's goes Mirajane, about to run into Bacchus, that's not good for our point difference if she wins..." Reve continues to look through his target eyes, unaware that Rogue was just feet across from him. "Just what I thought, he's blind." Rogue creeped up from out of his shadow. "One shot. I'll take him out. It's without a doubt that he's the captain."  
"Looks like your S class mage is too busy looking at everyone else that Rogue is about to finish him off." Makarov says with a grin on his face.  
"And I thought I was the kid here." Sidney says with a cocky attitude.  
"Roar.. Of the Shadow Dragon!" Reve's ears perk up, but he couldn't he didn't switch off his target eyes. All he did was sneer as the giant funnel of shadows came hurling towards him. As the dust clears, a black dome of dark vectors spun around Reve, acting as a barrier. "What happened?" Rogue looked on dumbfounded, leaving him wide open as four more vectors shoot out from a black magic circle from his left, slamming him into the wall of a building upon impact. As Rogue groans in pain, he struggles but makes his way up to his feet. Looking around for where the attack came from, he didn't have to look for long as Tayakata floated down on top of one of her dark vectors with her arms folded, glaring, yet smirking at Rogue.  
"Cut it kind of close there Taya." Reve grinned, still blind to what was in front of him.  
"You're unharmed cowboy, that's all that matters." Taya then turns back to Rogue. "As if we didn't take note of someone coming to where the flare was fired. Are you all that predictable?"  
Rogue growls a bit as he makes his way out the rubble, straightening up as he gets ready to fight Taya. Taya hops off her dark vector as she keeps her eyes on Rogue. "Well, Rogue?" She taunted. "This is your chance. Both captains, standing right here in front of you. Reve is wide open, if you can get past the barrier. Most of my magic is on that barrier. All you gotta do is beat me first Rogue. You should be able to that easily, with most of my magic concentrated on the gunslinger." Taya slid into a fighting stance, still taunting Rogue with a hand wave, motioning him to come at her. "Feeling good enough Rogue?"  
"You're not gonna get to me." Rogue crouches a bit, and then takes off at Taya, charging full speed.

Laxus slowly walked with his arms folded. He looked around from building to building as he continued walking the streets, until, from yards away, Sting comes walking around the corner, immediately spotting Laxus on the turn. They both stop walking. "Sting."  
"Laxus." Sting begins to slowly grin. "Lets cut the secrecy before anything happens. We're both captains right?"  
Laxus nods. "Seems like we both are."  
"A man of few words as always." Sting begins to ready himself for an attack. "Once I beat you, I'll be able to take out every remaining mage. Then put Sabertooth back on top! If I can hang with Natsu, I can certainly beat you."  
Laxus' eyes flash open from his comment. Keeping his normal, emotionless expression however, sparks begin fly around Laxus as he stares Sting down. "You have a lot of confidence. I'm sure you've been training relentlessly just to fight Natsu, but here's the thing. Natsu Dragneel has amazing instincts, and mine are no slouch either. But when it comes to pure strength, I'm leagues ahead of the kid. So I hope for your sake you're better than me in every other aspect, because if not, you're in a lot of trouble Sting." The sparks surging around Laxus begin to grow, causing Sting to take a step back. "Uh..! No matter! This will be a good test!"  
Sting quickly charges Laxus with his right fist reared back. He quickly throws his now white infused right fist towards Laxus, yet with arms still folded, Laxus sways away from the blow. Sting slides a bit, and turns right into a headbutt from Laxus. Sparks of lightning fly from contact. Sting goes sliding back a great deal before he finally comes to a stop, holding his for head in pain. "Gah! That's smarts! He definitely wasn't kidding."  
"Oi!" Laxus calls out to the White Dragon slayer. "You're wasting my time in that form. Go ahead and enter your white drive or whatever."  
Laxus' statement peeves Sting a good deal and he charges again. "I'll use it when I need it!" Sting lunges forward and throws a high kick to Laxus's head. A kick that was easily blocked by his massive forearm. Laxus quickly grabs his foot and slings him into the nearest building behind him, causing Sting to crash through the wall. Laxus then extends his arm, following his toss with a stream of lightning that causes a mini explosion in the area where Sting was thrown. After a few seconds, Sting struggles to his feet, pushing the rubble out of the way. He was quickly bruised and now panting heavily. "Like I said Sting,  
You're wasting my time. And now you're wasting your health and chances of any comeback."  
"Fine...if you want to lose so bad...!" Sting's aura begins to glow white as his hair starts flowing upward. "White drive. Don't forget. You asked for this." Sting charges in so fast, that Laxus barely has time to raise his arms to block, which was ineffective anyways as Sting's left fist slides right by his defenses, slamming into Laxus' jaw. The blow itself sends Laxus flying backwards and into the building wall. "...Heh. Told ya." Sting gloated as he held his follow through from his punch to Laxus. The very next second however, a big bolt of lightning comes flying out of the smoke and around Sting, getting behind him. The bolt reforms back to Laxus with his right fist clenched. He swings a heavy hook aimed at Sting's jaw. Sting meets him with an opposing punch, the two fists colliding to cause a heavy shockwave, bringing up a good bit of the ground with them. Both mages then had the same idea as they fires a quick roar at each other. The light and lightning slam into each other at such a close range, causing a decent sized cloud of smoke. Out of the smoke, Sting goes sliding back off his feet from the sheer force of Laxus' roar. He tumbles once until he comes to a sliding stop on one knee. "...He wasn't kidding. Laxus is strong. But I can beat him with my overall skill, I just need to watch out for his attacks. You can do this Sting.."

.  
Bacchus continued walking down the street, holding his ribs as he did so. He turns a corner as he pants a bit, still trying to shake off from the explosion. "Oi...that wasn't wild at all! What happened to straight up fighting! All these young souls want to plan and plot against a veteran."  
Bacchus turns a corner once more and upon the turn, he locks eyes with the innocent looking Mirajane Strauss. She blinks at him and then smiles. "Bacchus. You look pretty beat up. Did you get caught in the earlier explosion?"  
He winces just from hearing her refer to the explosion. "Yeah.. So what? You gonna finish me off now?"  
Mirajane frowns a bit, keeping her fingers interlocked in front of her. "Unfortunately. I don't mean to take advantage of your current state, but it's for Fairy Tail so.. I'm sure you can forgive me."  
Bacchus chuckles a bit. "I won't hold it against you Mirajane. I'll look at it as karma from my bet last year; but you should know." Bacchus straightens up as he stretches his arms out a bit. He then quickly chugs his gourd after taking it off his hip. "It wouldn't be wild of me to go down without a fight."  
Mirajane simply smiled as she began her take over. She turns to her usual transformation, the Satan Soul, and now stands across from a drunk and readied Bacchus. "I respect your decision to defend yourself." Mirajane speaks, her face now emotionless.  
"This is new to me. This will be our first time. Lets make it worth the fight!"  
They both lunge towards each other simultaneously, Mirajane with her fist infused with dark magic as Bacchus does the same with his palm magic glowing discreetly.

.

Erza and Gray both go sliding back, slightly bruised from the fight with Kuro and Blues. They two also stood slightly damaged. Yet out of the four, it seemed that Blues and Kuro were in control.  
"They seem like much more than teammates." Gray stated.  
"I'm sure they are." Erza added. "A water god and dragon slayer... I'm sure they're more than guild mates."  
"You two gonna talk, or can we wrap this up?" Kuro gestured as a magic circle appeared in front of him.  
"Blue Drive."  
"Third generation!?" Gray watched in awe as Blues begins to gain a blue aura. His hair begins to waver upwards as he smirks at the ice make Mage. "Ready Kuro?"  
"Yeah.. Water God's Typhoon.."  
"Roar! Of the Aquatic Dragon!"  
From Kuro's magic circle, a giant funnel of black water comes firing out and towards the Fairy Tail duo. Halfway there it combines with the roar Blues fired, now speeding towards them in a unison raid. With nowhere to go, the attack slams into both Gray and Erza, throwing them backwards and causing them to hit the ground hard and go sliding hard into the stone street. Gray begins holding his sides, still feeling the effects of Adamantine. "Gray.." Erza panted out. "Hang on, I'll take them both..."  
Blues lets out a laugh as Erza slowly rises to her feet. "We're about to put Quatro Cerberus on top! One more time eh Kuro!?"  
"Yeah..sure." They repeat their process as Blues fires his funnel of water, mixing it with Kuro's attack. Off guard from still trying to stand, Erza was wide open.  
Until out of nowhere, a funnel of wind, and a surge of lightning combine and slam into the unison raid, holding it in stalemate. Though the two attacks were tied in strength, the lightning connected with the water and traveled towards Blues and Kuro, too fast for them to react. The shock caused enough damage for them to drop their guard, allowing the funnel of wind magic to slam into them both, causing the Dragon/God slayer to slam into the building wall behind them.  
"Huh!?" Gray and Erza both look up at the building roof top behind then. Jumping down, was Cana with her cards in her hands. "It wasn't looking good for you two." She said with a smirk. "Thought I could help you out. We have bigger mages to deal with anyways."  
"Just finish them off huh?" Gray said with an annoyed tone of Cana's implication of her saving them.  
"No problem!" Cana throws off her jacket, revealing the Fairy Glitter symbol. "No running this time Blues! You bastard!" Kuro and Blues were struggling to their feet as Cana's arm began to glow. She lifted it in the air, but as she did so, a magic circle quickly appears under her as a multitude of vines wrap around her body and her arm, constricting her. "What the!?"  
"Not on my watch, WILD!" Yaegar appears around the corner, standing in front of Blues and Kuro who were still hurting from the last attack. "Alright guys, get up!"  
"Shit..Cana!" Gray makes his way to his feet completely with Erza.  
"Well!? Don't stand there! Get these vines off of me before things get bad!"  
On command, Erza flips towards Cana. Yaegar fires off another assortment of vines to try to stop her path. "Ice make: Lance!" Gray counteracts the vines with his own number of ice lances. He then runs towards Yaegar and slams a right hook into his jaw, sending him sliding back a good bit; leaving him dazed. "Now!" Erza rears her sword over her head and swings down, slicing the vines right off of Cana. "Cana go!"  
With a smirk, the card mage looked right at Blues as she aimed her arm. "Shit! No!"  
"Too late this time kid! Fairy Glitter!"  
A circle of magic appears around the three Quatro Cerberus mages, and everything goes to a blinding explosion. When it clears, the three mages were passed out, giving Fairy Tail team B the three points instead of team A. Gray falls back to his rear as he exhales. "Just a bad matchup is all.."  
"Heh, they were a great team." Erza added. "Lets just rest a second before we move on."  
"It's a good thing I was around, or we would of lost you two." Cana grins again as she picks her jacket back up.  
"Yeah yeah, lets just hope the others are fine as well."

.  
"Risley how long do we have to sit here!?" Beth asked as she sat against the wall in a back alley.  
"Until Kagura and the others finish the other mages off." Risley replied.  
"What if they don't?"  
Risley looked at Beth with a raised brow. "Are you underestimating Mermaid Heel's best mage?"  
Beth shakes her head vigorously. "N-no! I'm just nervous, and a bit scared, why do I have to be captain for this!?"  
Risley laughed a bit as she patted her on the head. "Relax, you know the plan. And no one can beat Kagura anyways." In the next second, iron Gajeel bursts through the wall, giving a sadistic, evil like smile and stare at both mages. Risley steps in front of Beth but before any punches were thrown, Gajeel throws down Kagura's broken sword in front of them, causing them to choke up with wide eyes. "Alright give up and no one gets hurt." Gajeel said as he waited for a response, turning his arm into a sword.  
"If you think we're gonna-"  
"I GIVE UP!" Beth shouts out, cutting Risley off in mid sentence.  
"B-Beth!?" Risley looks back at the plant mage in shock, then turns back to Gajeel who was towering over her with his sword now spinning. "...I give too."  
Gajeel looks up at the board as six more points were added. "Gihehehe! Those assholes can't say I didn't do anything to help! I took out Mermaid Heel alone. Those are my points!" Gajeel began marching with pride as he walked away from the disqualified Beth and Risley.

.  
"Alright Gajeel!" Levy and the other Fairy Tail members shouted from the stands, while Sidney and the others stayed quiet. "Our B team is up two against their A team. And Laxus has a chance to take out Sting. That's five more points!"  
"Don't count your points before they happen." Selene says out loud to the bookworm of Fairy Tail. "Things happen. Just watch."

.  
Takeru and Jack stood in front Lyon and Chelia. The four engaged in a stand off, their demeanors completely opposite. Tak and Jack stood with a relaxed expression while Chelia and Lyon had looks of concern of how to survive. Lyon attacks first. "Ice Make: Eagle!" Lyon fires off about five iced eagles that headed for the mages. Takeru doesn't move as Jack brings up a magic circle and then a wall of earth, causing the eagles to slam into the wall harmlessly; shattering into pieces. Takeru quickly sprints around the wall and into melee range against Lyon, who swung a left hook, and then a high kick aimed at his skull. Takeru blocks both with his forearms and grins as he infused his fist with shadows. He then feigns a punch at Lyon as he turns in a one hundred and eighty degree spin and fires a stream of shadow magic directly towards Chelia, slamming it into her abdomen and causing her to go tumbling into the ground.  
"Chelia!" Lyon lunges for Takeru once again; exactly what Jack wanted as he conjures a magic circle under Lyon. A pillar of earth goes firing into the air with Lyon on top. "What was the use of-" before Lyon could finish his sentence, a small beam of magic slams into his back shoulder, piercing right through as he immediately blacked out from the pain, giving White Eclipse A one more point. Back on the ground, Jack and Takeru surrounded Chelia. "I...I give." The pink haired mage dropped her head in shame.  
"Right decision. I was going to maul you with no remorse." Takeru says as he and Jack begin walking away. Jack bursts out in laughter. "Now now Tak! Save the mauling for the fairies! Lets go catch up with the others."

.  
Rogue panted heavily. Taya however, stood untouched and unphased. He looked her over as he tried to regain himself. "If I can't survive this.. I have to at least help Sting. I only have one shot at this, but I can make it count." Rogue takes off towards Taya. "Oi? Again? You're not gonna last long Rogue." As she finished talking, she sent two more dark vectors rushing towards Rogue. He ducks the first one, but the second one clips his shoulder. Still, he continues to run towards her. "Shadow Drive!" Rogue's black aura comes over him, enhancing his speed and strength as he rears an arm back. He then fires off a beam of shadow magic towards Taya. The beam came in so fast that she barely had time to react as she puts up a wall of Dark Vectors. "Tch.. Nice try but...hey!" Taya turns to see Rogue running right for Reve. "Reve!"  
"Hm?"  
It was too late. Rogue made his way around the barrier due to his shadows. He then rears his arm back as if coats with shadows. "Shadow Dragon's slash!" With everything he has, Rogue slams his fist into the gut of Reve Volver, causing him to fold over in agony. "Reve! Shit!"  
"Aha!" Macao yelled out. "That ruins everything!"  
Reve coughed up a heavy spool of blood from the blood, hunched over Rogue's arm after the blow. "...Bang."  
"Huh?" Before Rogue knew it, another piercing magic beam slams into the shadow dragon slayer, into the back of his head. Rogue falls to the ground unconscious; some accusing him to be lifeless.  
"Holy... Reve you could of killed him..." Taya says, looking at Rogue with a bit if concern to see if he's breathing. She noticed his chest moving slightly. "Well if you would of done your one damn job, that wouldn't have been necessary." Taya stays quiet, knowing that she nearly screwed up. "Now, I'm pissed. So here we go." Reve straightens up after the point board changes again. He locks on to both Bacchus and Sting.

Sting rushes Laxus and slams a right hook into his jaw. Laxus holds his ground however, and head butts Sting to the ground. He looked to follow with a stomp to his head, but Sting rolls out of the way. He goes for a leg sweep but Laxus hops over it and fires a quick lightning dragon roar. Sting covers up from the blow, but the damage was done. On his last leg, Sting was lifted up by Laxus by his collar. Laxus smirks a bit as he begins to speak. "Don't feel bad about giving up Sting. You did last year with great reason. This time, there's still ten of us."  
Sting looks up at the board, seeing the names of everyone remaining. He, Bacchus, and Yukino. The rest were White Eclipse and Fairy Tail. "I...I giv-"  
Slam! Another piercing bullet launches into Sting's side, throwing him right out if Laxus' grip. Caught off guard, Laxus was in shock, looking at the unconscious Sting. He then looks up at the board. He clenches his fist as lightning sparks around him. He couldn't do anything but watch as White Eclipse A gains five points.  
"What!?" Makarov yells out in a rage. "That's unfair! He stole that one!"  
"And he's not done either." Sidney added.

.  
Mirajane and Bacchus continued to exchange blows. Mirajane was gaining the slight advantage due to Bacchus already injured from the earlier attack on him. He slammed a couple palms into the body of Mirajane, causing her to slide backwards, but as she did, she cupped her hands as dark magic gathered between her hands. "Evil Explosion!" She fires off her attack, and with nowhere to go, Bacchus covers his arms in an X formation, yet the moment the Evil explosion impacts, Bacchus' eyes widen in pain. He falls to the ground with white eyes. Though she won, Mirajane was more than surprised on now Bacchus wasn't pushed back by the force of her attack.  
"Oh my... It seems we have a predicament here." Chapati says as the lacrima screen shows what happened. As the screen replays what happened, in the back of Bacchus, one more of Reve's bullets was driving into his spine, at the exact same time the Evil Explosion connected.  
"This is too close to call-Kabo! So we only have one solution." The pumpkin headed host appears on the screen. "Both attacks seemed to have hit at the same time. So.. Both teams receive the points."  
"This is an outrage!" Makarov slams an enlarged fist against the railing, breaking it.  
"Master calm down!" Lisanna exclaims as she places her hand on his shoulder. "How can I calm down! We should of won by now! But that damned gunslinger is stealing our points!"  
Calium laughs as Sidney stands there with a smirk under his scarf. The rest of White Eclipse look at Fairy Tail with smug faces. Fairy Tail glares back at the opposing guild, a growling out in unison. "White Eclipse...!"  
The Eclipse mages continue their smug looks as they all yell out. "Or Second Place!"

Yukino looks up at the screen. "This is insane. But more importantly, this is too much for me to do alone." She then begins to raise her voice. "So I forfeit! Do you hear me! I Yukino of Sabertooth forfeit this event! This was their rivalry from the beginning. I'm not taking out twenty mages alone, especially if Sting and Rogue are down. So I forfeit, neutrally. Let the score be tied as they fight it out."  
"Very well-Kabo." And with that, everyone but White Eclipse and Fairy Tail were eliminated.  
"Here we go..." Luke smirked as he and Heather stood together.  
"You ready, Lucy?" Natsu turns to Lucy as he smiles. She's smiles back. "Hai. Lets show them who's the best guild in Fiore!"  
"Since there's really only two teams left, we'll combine your scores into one. The score is eighty nine to eighty nine-Kabo! May the best team win!"  
"Juvia didn't even get to warmup!" Juvia bites her shirt, pulling on it as she tried to mentally prepare herself for the fights coming up. Wendy, who was beside her merely face palmed and smiled. "Don't worry Juvia, you'll be fine!  
"Don't feel bad." Waiston says as he and Jaxon walk around the corner, now standing across from the two fairies. They smirked as Waiston kept his hands in his jacket pockets. "Neither did we."

.  
"Here we go!" Ruika yelled. "Kill the blonde chick though! Take her keys!"  
"This is about to get rough. Or atleast as rough as these third rate guilds can get." Rugal smirks as he continues watching. Arc couldn't help but grin as he looked on. "I hope someone takes it too far. This is the rivalry to do it so it seems."  
"I just need White Eclipse to win." Tobias states. "Which they will, Kuro is all they need."  
Daityas stayed quiet, eyeing the screen as Kuro popped up.  
"You're gonna kill him aren't you?" Maggie asked Daityas.  
"I'm gonna kill them all. That's a given." Daityas responded in an emotionless tone.  
"You know she meant personally Daityas." Kiora added. "We know how you don't like rejection."  
"Oh. Yeah. I'll kill him."  
"Do you plan on.."  
Daityas scoffed. " I'm not wasting the vase on Kuro. Once he's dead he's staying there. It wasn't that important. Just wanted a lacky who could use fire magic. It was a want not a need. Now, lets watch how this plays out."

.  
"This is it folks! It's time!" Chapati was on the edge of his seat. "It's White Eclipse vs Fairy Tail! Who's gonna win this one!"  
"Hopefully White Eclipse." Siegrain thinks to himself.  
Laxus meets up with Erza, Cana and Gray. They all four stand and wait. A minute later, Reve, Taya, Nami and Kuro stand at the other end of the street. Not a single word was said as the eight mages squared off.

.  
Mystogan, who had been laying low, begins walking as well. He quickly meets up with Mirajane, who was waiting for him at the streets end. They both exchange nods.  
"Aye.." From behind Mystogan, Jack and Takeru arrive. "The time is now Fairies."  
Mystogan merely nods as Mirajane, who was already in her Satan soul form, readies herself.

.  
"This is it." Calium and Makarov say in unison.

"There can only be one."

"Lets go!"


	41. Chapter 41

White Eclipse  
Chapter 41

Mystogan and Mirajane were eyes to eyes with Takeru and Jack. Both parties take a few steps back and stop simultaneously. Takeru, who was standing across from Mirajane, slides into a crouching position. His fists begin to infuse with his shadows as he bares his teeth, allowing his magic pressure to build up. Mirajane stood waiting, emotionless and unphased to the immediate shake of the ground. Beside their partners, Jack tosses the empty wine bottle in his hand backwards, out of sight as a glass shattering crash was heard in the background. Jack hiccups once as he slides into his normal fighting stance, except this time he wavered back and forth.  
"A drunken fighter? I'll have to be careful." Mystogan acknowledged his opponents fighting style. He looked Jack over, seeing nothing out of the ordinary except for the mages deck of cards. Taking note once again, he went back to the to the contact with his opponent.  
After another minute of stand offs, Takeru and Jack charge their opponents. Mirajane charges Takeru, meeting him halfway while Mystogan waits for Jack. As Mirajane charged Takeru, darkness magic wrapped around her fists, and she sprouts wings from her back to pick up speed. With her reach, she threw the first punch, aiming a right straight for Takeru's head. Takeru crouches while sliding, ducking under her punch. He then goes for an uppercut, but Mirajane raises her knee to block the punch, causing a mini shockwave. Mirajane then quickly goes for a stomp that Takeru steps away from. Takeru counters with a leg sweep but the demon not only jumps over, but she takes off in the air. Takeru grabs her tail, but instead of trying to pull her down, he goes along for the ride. After ascending into the air, the satan soul user snaps her tail up, sending the shadow dragon into the air even higher. He quickly recovers and descends slowly towards her. While suspended in mid air, Takeru throws a shadow infused roundhouse kick. The demon blocks it with both forearms and throws a left hook that Takeru not only parries, but grabs her fist. She tries to throw a right but Takeru grabs that punch as well. Now in a tie up, Takeru begins to push down on the take over mage, causing them to descend to the ground at a fast pace. He bared his teeth and growled, due to the face of feeling the raw strength of Mirajane. Mirajane returned the expression, due to Takeru not being a slouch in the power department either. As they continued falling, they exchanged knees, colliding repeatedly. They both throw their own head butt, colliding with that as well. The force of the shockwave on the head butts cause them both to let go as Takeru backflips to his feet to the ground; Mirajane merely opening her wings to catch wind and descend slowly to the ground. The second her feet touches the ground however, she fires off a not so strong beam of darkness magic. Takeru, sinks into the shadows at the exact same time, causing the beam of magic to just barely sail over his head. The shadow disappears, causing Mirajane to look around cautiously for Takeru. From the wall behind her, Takeru leaps out, swinging a shadow infused axe kick aimed at the back of the take over mage's head. Mirajane catches glimpse of him however, and turns to block with both arms over her head. The force behind Takeru's kick sends them both sliding, pushing them both through the wall of the building, opposite of where Takeru leaped from.  
Mystogan was in mid backflip when pulling out a single staff. He fires off a stream of magic aimed at Jack Royal, yet the drunk merely sways away from it in his drunken manner. "Borrowed magic won't help me here. It's inevitable that I'll have to use my own soon." Still, Jellal charged Jack, who met him halfway. Retracting his staff, Jellal began throwing punches towards Royal, but once again, the drunk begins to sway away from his attacks with unorthodox movements. Upon dodging another right hook from Jellal, Jack spins, backhanding him in the left jaw. Now having his opponent off balance, Jack slams a kick to Jellal's ribs, pushing him away. The heavenly body mage recovers and flips on to the side of a building wall. "Meteor!" His body began to glow a golden aura and he then takes off in a golden blur, heading right for Jack. Upon reaching him, Jellal goes back to swinging fists; throwing combination after combination of punches. This time, Jack has to put up his arms to block as he attempts to dodge. He continues to parry and evade the blows until one slams into his nose, causing him to flinch as he stumbles backwards. Jellal takes this time to tackle Jack into the stone path street, pushing him deeper into the street as he drags him along. Jack groans in pain until he finally gets the where with all to conjure a magic circle beneath him, firing a pillar of earth skyward that sends him and Jellal into the air on top of the pillar. Jack then plants his foot into Jellal chest and kicks him off. Jellal uses his meteor to begin flying around the drunk at a quickened pace. Jack clenches a fist as he hops up to his feet, causing the pillar of rock to break off into seven well sized discs of earth. Now floating on one of the discs, the drunken earth, Jack Royal, begins to manipulate the other six well sized discs, causing them to give chase to Jellal, trying to cut him off every which way. Jellal flies each and every way with his meteor, dodging the incoming discs. He then makes a turn, and heads straight for Jack. The earth/card mage smirks, and from his deck pulls out a card. He then slings it towards Jellal. It stops short and glows. The card then disappears, but once Jellal enters the area where the card was thrown, he slows down against his will. "Gah..! Gravity!?" Before he could react, a disc from both his left and his right slam flat into him, smothering the mage. Jack raises his right hand, and with two fingers extended, he throws his hand back down, causing the rest of the discs to slam into the two already smashed against him. Jack pushes his hand down again, sending the cluster of discs with Jellal trapped inside down towards the ground. He then quickly flicks another card that stabs into the cluster of discs. The second it hits the ground, a small magic circle appears, then a decent sized explosion happens, destroying the cluster of discs with Jellal inside. When the smoke clears however, Jellal is seen, bruised but the expression on his face was more agitated than hurt. He throws off his mask, even though no one in the audience was that surprised. The look on his face brought back shades of tower of heaven. He looked up at Jack who jumped off his floating disc of stone and once again stood across from ex-criminal. Warmups were over for the four of them...

.  
Their fight was underway. With a grin on his face, Kuro charged the four mages. None of them move, yet all four were ready. Just then, a bullet goes flying by Kuro's ear, and rushes towards Laxus Dreyar. Laxus sways out the way at the last second, then locked on to Reve as he ran towards the dragon slayer. Kuro quickly cuts to Gray Fullbuster with a right fist aimed at his skull. Gray blocks the incoming blow, yet the force sends him sliding backwards. He digs his feet into the ground to come to a sliding stop. Kuro flips over him and lands, taunting Gray to bring the fight to him. Laxus gives chase to the wily Reve Volver as he continued firing streams of lightning at the mage. Reve's speed just edging out against the lightning, avoiding each stream that chases him. Laxus then turns into a bolt of lightning himself and gives chase to Reve, cutting him off shortly. Reve kept running straight for Laxus however. The brute of a lightning Mage rears back an electric fist while at the same time, the gunslinger conjures a small magic circle right behind his fist that propels his hand that was holding his gun forward, quickly pointing it point blank to Laxus' gut. Reve fires a burst shot into his abdomen at the exact time Laxus slams his fist into Reve's jaw. The catastrophic blows send both mages flying backwards into opposing walls with clouds of smoke covering them.  
Nami and Taya stood off with Erza and Cana. Erza requips out of her sea empress armor and into her robe of Yuen, carrying the long staff with the curved blade at the end. Cana looks at her forearm, signifying that the Fairy Glitter hasn't had time to recharge, so she gets a grip of her cards. Upon that notice, they charge each other. Erza and Taya meet. Running full speed, Taya flips over Erza's horizontal swipe of her weapon, then goes for a quick kick to the back of Erza. Titania quickly turns to block with her staff however. She then spins her staff to knock Tayakata off balance. Though she succeeded, when Erza swung her weapon again, a dark vector pops out of the ground quickly, cutting off her path to Taya. Two more dark vectors violently fire from out of the ground, sending Erza into the air. Taya rides another vector up, quickly ascending until she's above the scarlet haired Mage. She jumps off and aims a kick to her abdomen. Erza counters by turning her body to the side, and the momentum Taya had sent her past Erza. She takes that opportunity to slam a spinning kick to the back of Taya's head. She goes crashing to the ground only to be caught by one of her dark vectors. Taya quickly pops up as Erza touches down. Taya holds out her right arm, pointing at Erza as a magic circle forms. About twenty dark vectors shoot out towards her. With her bladed staff, Erza begins to twirl her weapon as she makes her way to Taya, deflecting the vectors as she drew ever so near.  
Cana throws two cards forward. A funnel of lightning and wind flies out of the two cards and towards Nami, yet the light mage easily dodges as she begins running up the wall of the building to her right. She leaps off into a corkscrew style flip and then fires off a decent sized beam of light towards Cana. She ducks under it and begins to run as the beam gives chase, bringing up the ground as it continues to follow Cana. Cana throws another card, causing a whirlpool to appear as it slams into the beam of light, causing a stalemate. Cana takes this opportunity to charge Nami who had just landed and swings a left straight at her. A mistake as Nami easily ducks the punch, grabs her wrist, and flips Cana over. While Cana was in mid air, Nami summons a magic circle right under the card mage. "Holy light: Raining in reverse." From the magic circle, a plethora of light magic, size of raindrops, slam into Cana, causing her to let out a shriek of pain as the launch her into the air. Now struggling to bare against the reverse rain of light, Cana reaches for her cards once again and throws two more cards towards Nami. Once in range, the two cards explode. Covering herself up, Nami tumbles backwards once and then comes to a sliding stop as she was down on one knee, yet quickly back on her feet. Cana recovers as well and lands on the rooftop of a building. Nami looks up at Cana with a smirk. While Erza was parrying the dark vectors, a few of them were deflected with a purpose. Two of them had snuck behind Cana, wrapping around her right arm and left leg. They then violently pull her off the roof and into the ground. They then pull her into Erza, slamming into her back. They both let out yelps of pain as the in sync sisters charge from both sides; Nami at Cana and Taya at Erza. Before Erza could move, the dark vector that wrapped around Cana wrapped around her as well. The sisters both come to a slide at the same time, in front of their respective opponents. "Now.." Taya swings a hard leg sweep that caused a vector to pop out of the ground, while Nami swung a high, light infused roundhouse. Cana tries to duck while Erza tries to jump, causing them to go nowhere and all in one slow motion, Erza has her legs swept from under her, while Cana eats the roundhouse kick cleanly in the jaw. The force behind Nami's light kick was so strong, yet the dark vectors holding the to females down were just as equally strong in strength. This caused them to go nowhere as Cana falls limp. The dark vectors release them and Erza quickly scrambles away only to find Cana on the ground not moving. "Cana!" She called out for her guildmate, but no response. The mini lacrima screen appears and looks her over... Then counts her out. An "X" appears over her face, signifying that she was out of the competition now.  
"Alright! We're now up one point!" Skye yelled out.  
"The score doesn't matter anymore Skye, we're tied until one team is completely eliminated." Sidney replied.  
"I know, but still! It's always good to be up!"  
"Is it?" Sidney's rhetorical question threw Skye for a loop mentally as she looked at Sidney with questioning eyes.  
"This isn't good.. But we're okay.." Makarov doesn't take his eyes off the screen.  
"Cana...good try." Macao lowers his head for a bit, then re fixes his eyes to the lacrima screen.  
"Ice make: Saucer!" From his magic circle, Gray fires off a sharp, spinning saucer made of ice. Kuro smiles from ear to ear as he holds his ground. He then, with perfect timing, catches the saucer by clapping his palms into the sides of the saucer. The force of the saucer continues to slide him back until when conjuring his own magic circle, he melts the saucer into nothing. "Fire make: knuckles!" Over his normal fists, two flaming fist that were twice the size of his appear. Kuro then charges Gray full speed as he swings a swift combination of punches towards Gray's face and body, daring him to block the flaming fists. Instead, Gray tries dodging, but the fists covered too much space and by the third swing, Kuro's right fist slams into the Ice Make mage's jaw, sending him sliding off a good deal before recovering. "Tch!" Gray then slams a fist into his palm again, creating a frosty aura. "Ice make: Bringer!" Out pops a giant sword made from his ice magic. Gray lunges at Kuro, swinging his sword every which way. Kuro begins to back pedal while dodging the swipes of Gray's sword. Kuro ducks a horizontal swing and quickly slams another punch of his fire knuckles into Gray, causing him to fold over. "Hai! You're open!" Kuro then slams his palms together, dispersing the knuckles. "Fire make: Tornado!" From such a close range, Kuro conjures up a flaming tornado that swept Gray right off his feet as it traveled away from Kuro, slamming into a nearby building. Gray laid in the rubble pile, down but not out as he panted heavily. Though he wasn't done, his body wouldn't let him move due to exhaustion. Kuro walks up to him with a smile. "Good fight!"  
"It's not over..." Gray quickly forces himself up, using his dead weight and tackles Kuro. Kuro was completely taken off guard by this maneuver. "Ice make:" Gray places his palm against Kuro's chest. "Geyser!" After his incantation, a giant frozen geyser sprouts up into the air. At the top, Gray stood on top of the geyser with a grin on his face. Frozen inside, Was Kuro Crane.

"What do you think!?" Heather asked as her and Luke kept running. Upon looking up, all they could see was a floating disc of earth, obviously created by Jack, and now a tower of ice.  
"We should split up. I'll take Jack's location!"  
"Right!" Heather nods in agreement and they both go their separate ways as they reach they intersection.  
"What do you think? Natsu?" Lucy called out for her partner as they continued running. Natsu looks up at the floating disc, and then the ice geyser. "...Geyser!" Making his quick decision, Natsu reached his hand back to Lucy. She grabs his hand and the salamander pulls her to him, causing Lucy to wrap her arms around his neck and latch on as he leaps to the rooftops, now running along the rooftops to catch up to Gray and the others. Gray was perched on top still when he spotted Natsu and Lucy headed their way. He gives them a wave. "Oi! Natsu! Lucy!" As he waved at the mages, a hand wraps around his ankle. "Huh!?" Kuro was melting the ice with his ability to manipulate fire.  
"Gray!" Natsu yells out as he witnessed Kuro break free from the ice, his fire knuckles re activated. As the ice shattered around the top of he geysers. Kuro lets out a yell as he rears back a left fist. He then slams the fist into Gray's nose. The impact sends him flying off the geyser diagonally into the ground. He now laid there, KO'ed. "G-Gray!" Erza yelled out for her other fallen comrade. She quickly went back to her senses, seeing that she was surrounded by the twin sisters, and Kuro who was making his way down from the geyser. She slowly stood as she requipped into her black wing armor as she held her ground, gripping her sword tightly.  
Leading him away from Erza, Reve finally comes to a stop as Laxus seemingly cuts off his path. "No more running, you're supposed to be an S class mage." Laxus said as he stalked towards the gunslinger.  
"Heh...I wasn't running from you big guy. But now that we're alone. Lets finish this so we can put the pressure on you fairies." Upon Reve finishing his cocky statement, Laxus charged Reve once again with his lightning infused fists. "Lets see how you like close range, shooter!" Laxus roars as he swings down a punch aimed at Reve's head. Reve simply sways out of the way and throws a taunting kick to Laxus's stomach. Laxus swings a horizontal punch that Reve leans away from, and then a right hook that Reve ducks. Reve was grinning while he dodged, until Laxus lands a hard kick to the sternum of the mage, sending him sliding into the ground. Reve scrambles to his feet and then glares viciously at Laxus while rolling his sleeves up to his forearm slowly. "Alright big guy." Reve requips two assault rifle style guns into his hands and begins to fire off a seemingly endless round of beams of magic. Laxus merely covers up as the beams rain upon him, creating a cloud of smoke as the onslaught continues. Reve continues until he could no longer see Laxus and finally stops firing. He waits, until out of the smoke, a lightning dragon's roar slams into Reve, causing him to go crashing into the ground again. This time, Laxus gives chase, then picks Reve up by his collar. He quickly slams him again, then swings a punch behind the slam. Reve covers his face, causing the electric charged fist to hit his arms. Though shocked, Reve quickly regains his senses and kicks Laxus right under the chin. In one slow motion, Reve requips his two assault rifles into a sawed off shotgun style gun. He pressed it against Laxus' sternum in one motion, and then fires a concentrated blast, sending him sliding back into a building wall as well. After a second or two, Laxus makes his way out only to see Reve with his arms spread out to the sides. His eyes widen a bit as he looks around him, seeing himself surrounded by about ten floating guns. "...Devil's Wheel!" Upon shouting, the ten guns let loose a plethora of magic, all slamming against Laxus as he covers up again. The power behind the guns cause him to go down to a knee as they continue to unload on the second generation Dragon Slayer. Reve begins to laugh loudly as his attack continues. "The big bad Laxus is already about to go huh!? This isn't looking good for Fairy Tail!"

"Water slicer!"  
"Roar of the Frozen Dragon!" Juvia fires off her water slicer attack, only to have it frozen solid by Waiston's breath. It hits the ground, shattering into pieces.  
"Sky dragon's Wing slash!" Wendy fires off two small funnels of wind from her arms. Yet..Jaxon merely spins a finger, causing a small tornado that cuts off the wing slash, dispersing as well. Waiston quickly rushes Juvia, freezing his fists over as he did so. With Juvia on her heels trying her best to dodge his frozen fists, Waiston began firing off combination after combination of punches. He catches Juvia once in the ribs, which leaves her open for a his kick to her stomach, but the kick goes right through her watery body. This now left the surprised Waiston Tunundra off balance. She took advantage by throwing her arm in a backhand motion, a wave of water slams into Waiston, pushing him off to the side.  
Jaxon creates a magic circle above Wendy, and quickly, bolts of lightning begin surging towards her. Wendy falls out of the way, barely avoiding each thunderbolt as she desperately jumped out the way. Jaxon then conjures up two more magic circles, one from each side as hail the size of baseballs begin to slam into Wendy from both sides, also burying her in a pile of ice. After a bit, she fires a Roar of the Sky dragon into the air, pushing the hail off of her and into the air. The fall harmlessly as Wendy closes her eyes. "Hey..." Jaxon looked on with interest. "What you planning over there.  
"Water Cane!" Juvia fires a whip of water towards Jaxon, wrapping around his arms to hold him down. "What the!?"  
"Secret dragon slayer art! Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" With a wave of her arms, Wendy creates a barrier of sky magic around her. The barrier then released from around her and then rushes towards the constricted Jaxon. Jaxon looked on with wide eyes as Wendy's strongest attack came rushing in. At the last second, a recovered Waiston slides in front of Jaxon, taking the brunt of the attack. "Waiston! Tch!"  
"Whoa, Wendy is quite strong.." Juvia says as she pulls back her water cane.  
As the attack connects however, an inhaling sound was being heard.  
"...N-No.."  
"Yes..." Jaxon, still with wide eyes, grins a little as he watched his guildmate began to "eat" the massive amount of sky magic. As he finished up, His aura began to glow both an icy and sky blue. He stared down the two female mages as his hair wavered in his new aura. The Frozen Sky dragon smirked a bit, then began inhaling the air around him.  
"Juvia!"  
"Wendy get down!"  
"Roar, of the Frozen Sky Dragon!" Waiston fires off an enormous funnel of sky and ice magic. The giant funnel sweeps both Wendy and Juvia off of their feet and into a wall, a giant cloud if smoke covering them. "Heh.."  
"Yes! Waiston!" Zalen shouted in glee from the stands. "Now he's just like Takeru!"  
"Astounding." Sidney thought to himself as the others cheered.  
Waiston and Jaxon high five each other. Back in the stands Makarov smirks. Juvia seeps back up through the ground behind them, Wendy under her. The two mages now stood behind the White Eclipse mages. "Water nebula!"  
"Roar of the Sky Dragon!"  
The unison raid slams into both Waiston and Jaxon, sailing them into the air. They both hit the ground, leaving small craters from their bodies. Waiston stirred around, showing he was still able to go. Jaxon however..was KO'ed.  
"Never count out a Fairy Tail mage!" They all cheer for Juvia and Wendy in unison as it was now two one one against Waiston.  
"Jaxon...don't worry bud...I'll take them both down.." Waiston then makes his way to his feet slowly. Standing across from Juvia and Wendy. "Lets go... I'm taking you both down!"

Mirajane had Takeru pinned against the wall, slamming fist after fist into the shadow dragon who could do nothing right now but cover up. He finds an opening however, and ducks a punch, he then springs upward, connecting a head butt to the demon's chin. "Shadow Dragon's claw!" He then slams a heavily shadow infused punch to Mirajane's abdomen, sending her flying, and then tumbling into the ground. A good bit of Mirajane's punches caught up to Takeru as he stepped away from the wall light headed. He wobbles a bit as he stands in the open, leaving him open as Mirajane springs upwards and quickly shouts. "Evil Explosion!"  
She fires a giant beam of dark magic towards Takeru, but just then, through a magic circle, a mirror appears, reflecting the beam of magic directly back at Mirajane. Caught off guard, she covers her face with her arms as her own blast slams into her. Though she took heavy damage, she held her ground. When she put her arms down, she no longer saw Takeru, but Luke standing across from her. "Raging bolt.." Luke smirked as a yellow magic circle appeared in front of him. Mirajane braces herself, getting ready for impact. While she did so, out of the shadows, Takeru appeared with his cheeks puffed out. "Roar.. Of the Shadow Dragon!" From behind, Takeru fires off a funnel of shadow magic. Not even seeing the blast coming. The roar slams right into Mirajane's exposed back, causing her to cry out in pain as the evil explosion also breaks her way through, then the Raging bolt slams into her as well. As the smoke clears, Mirajane was found on the ground, knocked out. While that happened, Jack was giving chase to Jellal, who was once again in his heavenly body technique. He flew in a certain pattern as Jack looked on, confused at what he was doing. "Grand chariot!" Jack's eyes widen as the magic circles were formed. Jack couldn't raise his defenses fast enough, as the magic beams from the grand chariot come raining down on top of Jack. He too laid unconscious once the smoke dispersed.  
"Damn...Jack is gone. But we got the demon though." Zalen nodded as he continued standing in between Calium and Sidney.  
"Mystogan won't last much longer either. Three on one against a Fairy Tail wizard, who isn't even really in Fairy Tail.." Sidney slowly turned his head to Mavis, who was too busy watching intently at the matches going on.  
Heather was running full speed, gaining on the battle site to where Erza and the others were located. "The odds are in our favor. We're gonna win." She continued to run on the ground. When she looked up, she noticed Natsu and Lucy leaping from rooftop to rooftop as they ran in the same direction as Heather.  
"I'll take them both out right now!" Heather prepared to leap up to the rooftops, only to leap off to the right, dodging an incoming iron pole. She landed in a readied defensive position as she followed the refracting pole with her eyes, now seeing Gajeel standing at the streets end with a grin on his face.  
"There he is." Pantherlily exclaimed as he nodded once.  
"Oi...you're that poison girl right? The poison dragon slayer?"  
Heather looked on, not changing her position. "Yeah, my name is Heather though, not poison dragon slayer."  
"I don't care about that. I almost lost because of your underhanded tactic."  
Heather smirked. "Call it what you want. To be fair it wasn't my idea. If I had my way, I'd beat you all myself, starting with the tin can in front of me."  
"Gihi!" Gajeel began a boisterous laughter from Heather's words. "I like your spirit! Lets see if you can back it up though!"

"Gray and Cana are down! That means Erza is by herself! We have to hurry!" Lucy and Natsu were closing in on Erza as the blonde haired Mage pointed out the situation to Natsu.  
"We're not gonna make it..." Natsu groans as he keeps running. Just then, a devious look comes over his face as he looks back at Lucy. "I got an idea."  
"Huh!?... Natsu I don't like that look of yours.."  
Natsu grabs Lucy by both of her wrists. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"  
Natsu grins. "Get ready! Go help...Erza!" Upon saying Erza, Natsu swings around and launches Lucy in the air, towards the area. Lucy lets out a loud shriek as she was launched in the air. "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO FROM UP HERE!?"  
Lucy looks down as she now hovered over the fight. "Take someone out!" Natsu yelled.  
Lucy nodded. "Right!"  
On the ground, after their stand off. Taya and Nami were both charging Erza at the same time. The scarlet hair mage held her ground, bracing for impact.  
Lucy pulls out a key as it begins to glow. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" From the blinding light, Sagittarius begins free falling with Lucy. "How can I assist you Moshi Moshi!?"  
Lucky then points at the twins charging towards Erza. "Sagittarius! Take them down!"  
"How many keys does this bimbo have?" Ruika asked herself out loud as she folded her arms in a bit of envy.  
"Looks like we got the wrong celestial wizard on our team." Tobias said slyly. Right after his comment, he was kicked off the tower by Ruika. He screamed "Worth it." All the way down until a loud thud that no one paid attention to was heard.  
"Now Sagittarius!"  
Sagittarius takes aim at both Nami and Taya.

The horse cosplaying spirit fires off four arrows simultaneously towards the twins.

As Taya and Nami near the standing Erza with their fists reared back, the arrows catch their attention, but due to their momentum they were wide open.

It was too late for them to react..


	42. Chapter 42

White Eclipse  
Chapter 42

"Two down!" Lucy smiles as Loke appears out of his gate from his own free will, now cradling Lucy as he prepares to land on the ground.  
A smirk appears on Erza's face as the arrows come flying towards Taya and Nami. They both had seen the incoming projectiles, but couldn't stop in time to evade. All they could do was watch as the piercing arrows made their way to them. Erza's smirk...disappeared. She now showed a face of shock and confusion. The heads of the arrows have shattered, right before hitting the twins. Nami and Taya both jump out of the way anyways and look back behind them. Reve stood ways away with two pistols requipped into his hands. With his precision eyes, the gunslinger had easily shot down the arrows that were merely inches away from piercing into his guild mates. "And that's how you watch someone's back Taya."  
"Tch.." Taya failed at hiding the small smile on her face that quickly faded as she remembered that they were in the middle of a fight for strongest guild in Fiore. "No one said we were done!" Behind Reve, a heavily bruised Laxus comes sliding behind him, all the way to his left. Before Reve could react, Laxus throws a right hook into the mage's jaw. The immense force behind the punch sent Reve flying in a direct line through a building. "Reve!" Nami and Taya shouted in unison as the gunslinger's body was currently hidden behind a cloud of smoke and debris. "He's okay, keep the pressure on!" Kuro runs up behind the bulky Laxus as he shouted these words. He threw a jumping kick at the lightning mage's head, yet, it was blocked by Laxus's massive forearm. As Laxus pushed Kuro away, the fire make mage flipped and landed on his feet, quickly slapping his palms together. "Fire make: Spears!" Out of a bright red magic seal placed right in front of Kuro, ten spears made of flames hurl towards Laxus. Laxus fires back with a lightning roar, the two attack colliding into a stalemate.  
"Erza!" Lucy and Loke land beside Erza, now standing across both Nami and Taya. "You alright?"  
Erza simply nodded, not taking her eyes off of her opponents.  
"Two on two again? That's still not a problem, right Nami?"  
"Right! Can we finish then with one attack this time?"  
"I was planning on saving that. But okay."  
"I won't give you the time! Loke!"  
"On it!" Loke's fist begins to glow a bright orange, along with the aura around him. He then swings forward a punch. From the punch, a lions head goes roaring towards the twins. "Regulas impact!"  
Separating, the sisters avoid the attack by leaping away in opposite directions. Nami comes around full circle as she sprints towards Lucy. Taya takes Erza as she begins to surf one of her dark vectors towards the mage. Nami swings a light infused spinning kick towards Lucy, but Loke steps in and blocks it. He then swings a punch that Nami backflips away from.  
"They're agile!" Lucy took note of their quickness as she pulled out her Fleuve d'étoiles, the whip she acquired from her celestial spirit Virgo.  
"Loke, if you can get her to quit moving, I'll be able to hold her down!"  
"Already on it Lucy." Loke and Nami continued exchanging melees, yet Nami continued to grab the upper hand, occasionally hitting Loke in the chest with a kick, or a solid punch to his jaw.  
Loke growled in frustration. "Stand still!"  
Nami giggled as she bounced around on her toes just to defy the lion's demands.  
"Don't forget about me! Moshi Moshi!" Sagittarius stretches back the string to his bow and fired two arrows towards Nami who barely had time to dodge them as she stumbled backwards towards Lucy. "Now!" Lucy swings her Fleuve d'étoiles towards Nami, wrapping the light user in a bind, unable to move. "All yours Loke!"  
"Here we go!" Loke begins to charge his Regulas Impact once more, a glowing orange aura surrounds him until he lunges towards Nami. Her eyes widen as she had nowhere to go.  
"Nami!" The distraction took Taya off the offensive as Erza, in her black wing armor, now had Tayakata on her heels, backing up as she used her dark vectors to parry the strikes Erza threw with her sword.  
"Finish it Loke!"  
"Regulas impact!" Loke yelled out as he slammed his fist directly into the jaw of Nami, snapping her head to the side as Lucy releases her grip of the light mage. Nami was sent sliding across the ground a good ways before coming to a stop, not moving.  
"Nami!" Taya takes a huge leap backwards from a horizontal swipe from Erza, towards her sister as she quickly runs the rest of the way towards her.  
"...I'm fine."  
"There's no way!" Loke stares in awe along with Lucy as Nami slowly makes her way to her feet next to her sister Taya. "Can we finish them now, while they're unprepared?"  
Taya, also surprised by her durability, nods her head. "Lets do it."  
Nami rubs her jaw as she gives Lucy a glare of near hatred. Then, Nami connects her right palm to Taya's left. The entire area begins to shake as a mixture of light and dark begin to intertwine within each other in a perfect yet dangerous harmony, swirling around the sisters.  
"They're gonna do it!" Aira shouted.  
"Goodbye Lucy and Erza!" Skye and Kairi both added.  
"Lets see first." The always skeptical Sidney added in.  
The shaking of the city stopped even Laxus and Kuro in their tracks as they turn to see what's going on. The violent shaking continues as a giant black and white magic circle appears in front of them both. Still palm to palm, they both turn to the side, nearly cheek to cheek as the connect their free hands together. Cupping all four hands together, the rear back, and then thrusts their hands forward. Out of the magic circle fired a giant beam filled with raw darkness and light magic, covering the entire street and giving Lucy and Erza no where to go.  
"Lucy! Behind me!" Loke slides in front of the celestial wizard, prepared to take on the devastating attack himself.

.  
"Lets not waste much on this guy Luke. We need to catch up to the others. They have the ones we're concerned about."  
Luke nods to Takeru's words. Both of them stand off against Jellal.  
"In fact, Takeru. Let me take care of him." Luke smirked at the leader of the independent guild, that took down countless of dark guilds. Jellal stood, waiting on his opponents next move.  
"Are you sure?" The young dragon slayer asked the copy mage. Takeru looked at Luke with uncertainty.  
Luke turned to Takeru and grinned. "Just go ahead and shadow your way to the real battle. I'll be right behind you. They can't take us one on one. White Eclipse remember?"  
Takeru finally caves, giving a small smirk as he sinks into the shadows.  
"Don't let me down Luke." Was his last words before Takeru took off to where the rest of the mages were. Luke smirked as he turned back to Jellal, who was standing, already conjuring a spell. "?" Luke watched intently, but didn't notice until a few seconds later the five magic circles above him. "Five layered magic circle. Sacred Song."  
Through the five circle above him, a concentrated beam of magic comes firing down towards the copy mage. He looked on with widened eyes at first, but then Luke covers up as a magic circle appears above his person, creating a domed mirror. The sacred song slams into the mirror, and reflects into different directions,  
Destroying buildings left and right.  
"That place is going to become a wreck pretty soon." Cygnus says, staying focused on the fight between Luke and Jellal.  
"I'm not a fan of Takeru leaving Luke.." Sidney admitted.  
"Hey, Luke is fine he's got it!" Selene interjected.  
"Meteor!" Once again, Jellal went back to his patented move, coating himself in a golden aura as his speed increased immeasurably.  
"I was prepared for this!" Luke yells towards Jellal as both lightning and fire begins to surge and dance around the mage.  
"Natsu's lightning flame mode..." Jellal rushed past Luke, but Luke takes off right behind the blue haired mage. He eventually catches up to Jellal. Jellal takes off into the air, causing Luke to stop his run, but the copy mage quickly plants and crouches, and then springs into the air, right above Jellal.  
"Fast!"  
"Iron fist! Of the lightning flame dragon!" Luke throws a heavily infused punch of lightning and flames at Jellal. He blocks it with both arms, but the force alone sends Jellal crashing into the ground. He tries to quickly make his way to his feet, which was fortunate because Luke was right behind him as he aimed a stomp at Jellal, but the Heavenly Body moved out the way, and came back with a hard kick to Luke's face, causing him to slide backwards a few yards.  
"I don't have time to carry this on!" Luke began to roar out as he shook the area due to the power of the lightning flame mode. Jellal stood waiting for him to attack as Luke reared his head back. "Roar.. Of the lightning flame dragon!" Luke lunged his head forward, firing off a funnel of flames and lightning.  
"Mistake." Through a couple of quick hand signs, three magic circles appear before Jellal. "Three layered magic circle. Mirror water!" The three magic seals immediately reflect the roar on impact, sending them back towards Luke.  
"Oh no you don't!" Luke quickly puts both of his palms forward, summoning a giant mirror that also reflected the roar. Now stuck in a deadlock, the huge funnel of lightning and flames were caught in between the mirror water from Jellal and Luke's mirror as well. Luke bares his teeth as the mirror in front of him starts to crack. "Come...on!" The cracks in the mirror begin to accumulate, ready to break any second, while Jellal's mirror water seemed to stand strong as the two magic struggle between the lightning flame magic. Luke slides back more, digging his feet into the ground... Until a giant crack appears horizontally on the mirror, from one side to the other.  
"No..."

.

"I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm pretty beat from Kagura." Gajeel plants a smirk on his face as he reactivates his iron scales over his body. "But I don't have the same respect for you as her, so I'll finish you off quickly, before I have to actually do any real work."  
"Keep talking Black Steel, it'll be an honor to stuff your throat with poison."  
"Gihe! I like it! Well then!? Lets see your poison, Heather!"  
Heather crouches a bit, as poisonous scales begin to form over her arms and a bit over her face. "Oh.. I'm much more than poison."  
Heather and Gajeel charge each other, meeting in the middle, fist to fist. As soon as they connect, Heather goes for a leg sweep that Gajeel easily hops over. That was just what Heather wanted however, as she quickly comes back around with immense speed, aiming a flipping kick to the top of Gajeel's head. The iron dragon hits the ground, looking up to see a taunting Heather standing a few feet back. "Not...bad!" Gajeel charges again, fast enough to throw Heather off guard. "Iron Dragon's hard fist!" Gajeel swings his heavy iron punch into Heather's arms that were held in an X shape. The poison dragon was sent sliding back from the force of the punch, but she held her ground. Heather showed no expression of pain as Gajeel once again lunges towards her. Gajeel catches Heather off guard by feigning a left jab, just to slam a hard uppercut to her stomach, causing the vanilla blonde haired mage to hunch over in pain. "Gihe. Times up." Gajeel follows through with the punch by turning his fist into an iron pole and then planting Heather into the ground, continuously pushing her into the ground with his iron pole extending. After a good twenty yards, Heather finally rolls out of the way. She quickly stands, and even though the damage was done, she stood tall, glaring at the iron dragon slayer. "Why on the defensive!?" Gajeel began to grin as he stalked towards her. "You seemed more confident than this just a minute ago."  
"...heh. You sure talk a lot for someone who is slowly decaying.  
"...Slowly...?" He didn't feel anything until she mentioned it. Gajeel looked down at his hands, seeing a purple fume arising from his knuckles. The stinging sensation begins to kick in as he watches the iron scales slowly corrode. What was even worse, was the same thing happening right between his eyes, where Heather had kicked him earlier. "What's happening?"  
Heather grinned as she inched towards Gajeel. "You know what's happening. You're losing to White Eclipse's poison dragon slayer. You're lucky you have your iron scales on, or you'd be in a lot worse pain than you are now. What's wrong Gajeel? You don't seem as confident as you were a few seconds ago." Gajeel's expression quickly changed into one of a serious nature. "I don't know how long I have until this really starts to bother me, but you won't be awake to find out." As he spoke, a shadowy aura begins to wrap around Gajeel and what was left of his iron scales.  
"Iron shadow huh? That won't save you from the poison."  
"No.. But it won't save you either." Gajeel then takes off with immense speed. Heather, caught off guard, puts her arms up to block the incoming attack to her front. However, Gajeel ends up behind her with a kick to the back of her head. Heather stumbles forward and Gajeel stays in pursuit. Hearing him coming, Heather turns to throw a punch that goes right through the dragon slayer, causing the shadowy figure I disappear, only to reappear to her right. Heather beats him to the punch again, aiming a back kick to him, but once again Gajeel vanishes. She looks around cautiously. "Come out coward...you're the one on borrowed time."  
"Gihehe!" From underneath her, Gajeel appears from the shadows, grabbing her leg and leaping into the air. Well into the air and still holding onto his prey, Gajeel swings a punch to Heather's jaw. "Time to finish this!"  
"...I'm not out yet.."  
"ROAR." They both yelled in unison, puffing out their cheeks as the used their hands to set aim to concentrate the attack at their opponents. "Of the poison.."  
"Of the Iron Shadow."  
"Dragon!"  
Gajeel's funnel soars right over Heather's, causing both attacks to hit their mark. Gajeel goes soaring into the air, while the Iron shadow roar drills Heather into the ground, leaving a well sized crater.  
Heather laid unconscious. Gajeel fell a minute after Heather, hitting the ground back first as an outline of his body cratered the ground.  
The lacrima screen hovered over to Gajeel.. But before it could count him out, the dragon slayer slowly rose to his feet. He now stood on both of his feet, his eyes heavy as the fumes of poison continuously poured out of him. "I took that blow without iron scales. Heh... Still...I'm not gonna...let some poi-...poison..." Gajeel took a few steps forward while he spoke. On his fifth step, Gajeel fell over once again, face first. "Stop... Me..."

.

"Water Nebula!"  
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"  
Both attacks go hurling towards, yet miss the Frozen Sky Dragon slayer as Waiston uses his new found speed to outrun them. Waiston then plants his feet, and reversed direction. In a full sprint he covers his fists in ice with sky magic swirling around them. Juvia fires off another funnel of water, but Waiston easily sways away from it without losing a step. In the next blink of an eye, Waiston shoved a fist right into the stomach of Juvia. Her eyes widen as she began to hunch over. Waiston rears his fist back once more. "Solid fist.. Of the Frozen Sky Dragon." He fires once more, connecting into her gut again. Juvia quickly goes tumbling hard into the ground into an undoubtable knock out.  
"Juvia!" The young dragon slayer shouted for her comrade. It all happened to fast for her to react.  
"You'll join her in a second!" Waiston smirks as he throws a right hook towards Wendy. She manages to duck under the punch, but the icy trail behind the punch causes Wendy to shiver and slow her pace down. Waiston took advantage firing a shroud of ice and sky magic combined into a small beam, slamming into her chest. She hits the ground hard, yet still awake.  
"Come on now Wendy, it's hard enough fighting a little girl. Just give up. They'll forgive you."  
"I won't!" Wendy raises to her feet. She wobbles a bit as she gathers the magic that she has left. "Arms!" Wendy's body begins to glow a sky blue as her strength increases.  
"I see where this is going! You want a shoot out eh!? Your little arms power up isn't gonna help you! ROAR." Waiston tilts his head back as Wendy does the same. "Roar."  
"Of the Sky dragon!"  
"Of the Frozen Sky Dragon!" They both fire their funnels of dragon slaying magic at the same time, both funnels meeting in the middle in what seems like a deadlock...Until Waiston's roar pushes through. Wendy goes down to a knee, and then lets out a yell as she covers up from the attack. Being swept off her feet, she lands face first in the street as she struggles to lift her head. Ultimately passing out.  
"Hm..." Waiston now took the time to marvel at his new state. "Back on top Dragon Slayer. As one of the originals it's only right. Move over Luke, Takeru. Waiston Tunundra is a threat again." Waiston begins walking to where everyone else was fighting. "Hopefully they left some for the Frozen Sky dragon." He laughs at his new title, repeating it with pride. "Frozen Sky.. I see how Takeru feels now."

.

"Loke, no!" It was too late, the enormous beam of magic that Nami and Taya fired collided, going over and around Lucy as the defense in front of her took the brunt of the attack. As she shielded her eyes from the light of the attack she noticed small pieces of some sort of material pelting against her. "No way.." When the attack subsided, Lucy looked on in shock, yet a bit of relief as Erza stood in front of both her and Loke, in what was left of her Adamantine armor.  
"E-Erza.." Loke stood in shock at their moments savior. Once convinced that the blast was completely subsided. Erza requipped once more into her Giant's armor. Without a word, she charged the magically drained twins with her heavy fist reared back. As she swung, Taya put up a wall of dark vectors, but Erza's fist easily broke through as her fist collided with the nose of Taya, sending her through the closest building and out the other side unconscious. Nami watched everything happen in a slow motion as she covered her mouth in shock...leaving her wide open as Laxus came sliding in behind her with his fist infused with lightning. The sparking sound caused Nami to turn right into a clubbing haymaker. Nami's body then joined right next to Taya's as she too was KO'ed.  
"I didn't even see him leave me..." Kuro looked on with wide eyes. "I was too busy watching the unison raid."  
"Alright!" The Fairy Tail guid cheers with their fist in the air.  
"...Nami and Taya. Two heavy hitters." Sidney groaned out as his eyes never leave the lacrima screen.  
Calium gives a small smile. "As if it's fate.. I see where this is headed."  
"I wish you would enlighten me old man. Because I'm at a lost."  
"Me too..." The building Mage sighed out.  
"I hope your friends are on the way." Erza yelled to Reve and Kuro as she requipped into her standard armor and sword. Kuro growled as he slid back into a fighting stance due to Laxus turning back to the fire make mage.  
Reve climbed out of the rubble he was laying in, holding a small magnum in his dominant hand. "I'll finish you all off alone if I have to."  
"There's no need for that." Takeru spoke as he arose from the ground a few feet in front of Reve.  
"Takeru... Where's-"  
"Jack didn't make it as you can see on the board, and Luke...-"  
"Luke is..right here..."  
Walking around the corner, Luke was holding his left arm as he limped to beside Takeru. "Don't let my disposition fool you. I'm raring to go. Lucy, Titania, Laxus, and...-" Natsu quickly jumps down from the rooftops, landing behind Laxus. "Natsu.."  
"He's fresh." Reve snarled.  
"So am I." Takeru replied as he and the Salamander starred each other down.  
Erza looks on at Luke. "That means Jellal..."  
"Too easy." Luke finished, giving a small smirk as he winced past the pain.  
"Same goes for Wendy and Juvia." Waiston comes nonchalantly walking around the corner with his hands in his pockets. Takeru raises a brow at the dragon slayer. "You seem different."  
"Do I? It's probably because I'm now the Frozen Sky Dragon slayer." Waiston couldn't help but smile brightly as he let his magic aura rise around him. "And I'm ready to clean these fairies up, Frozen Sky style!"  
"A few seconds and it's already annoying." Reve said as he turned back to his four opponents. "So what? Five on four, White Eclipse?" Not looking good for you chumps heh."  
"Check...your math...Gihe.."  
On the other side of the street, Gajeel came limping in, holding on to the building side. "It looks..pretty even to me!"  
"...Heather!" Luke clenched a fist as he glared at the iron dragon slayer. "I should of taken that road, it seemed too clear."  
"Five on five!" Ruika yelled out. "All bets are still on! Will it be Fairy Tail or White Eclipse!"  
Everyone else watched with intent and silence. Ruika joined them after realizing how much everyone was into the fight.  
"Five on five... Natsu and Takeru are the freshest ones here. But Waiston looks okay too.." Reve's thoughts begin to examine the entire situation, he then spoke aloud in his usually cocky tone. "Well well!" He rolled up his sleeves one last time, up to his forearm. "Fairies, lets see what you're made of when your backs against the wall eh!?"  
Takeru stood with his arms crossed behind everyone on his team. "I got this, Dragneel has to go. The rest will be easy. Selene...this one's for you."  
Luke winced again from the pain in his body, yet he managed to stay up on his own. "Heather.. I'll personally break Gajeel in half. Watch."  
Reve twirled the small magnum in his hand, biting his lip to conceal the pain he was in. "Erza... I'll shoot her down just for you, Tayakata."  
Waiston looked around at everyone's serious face, then shrugged as he turned back to the opposing guild. "I can't wait to chow down on some ice later ah man. Can I eat raw winds now? I never seen Tak eat raw light so I don't know.."  
Lucy and Natsu now stood next to each other as they gave each other a nod. Laxus rotated his left arm to work the stiffness out. Erza stood ready as Gajeel limps to the back of the group.

"Well..."

"Well.."

Reve raised his magnum and aimed it at the Fairy Tail group.

"Bang."


	43. Chapter 43

White Eclipse  
Chapter 43

"Bang." Out of the tiny barrel of Reve's magnum, fires out a massive beam of raw magic that took up the space of the entire street. The blast took all of Fairy Tail off guard for a second since no one was expecting this from such a weapon.  
"Look out!" Natsu yelled as he slid into a building side, watching the beam just barely hover over him. He held onto the wall with his "claws" dug into the side to keep from being blown away. Laxus turned into a bolt of lightning and literally fled around the corner with Gajeel for it was there only choice, also barely escaping. Loke had grabbed Lucy and they both now stand on a rooftop next to Sagittarius. "What was that...? He shot that from that little gun." The celestial mage pondered while everyone recovered from the shock.  
"What kind of..." Macao looked on in shock at the now missing street, and the building at the end that no longer existed.  
"It's a magnum. A celestial gun." Alzack said in a low, foreboding tone.  
"A celestial gun?" Romeo asked. "What's that?"  
"There's not many. In fact, no one knows the exact number of how many exists. Reve's guns and his clothing come from the same place Erza gets her armor and swords kind of. But there's a few guns, that were well crafted, a lot better than the normal ones you've seen him use. The magnum in his hand is one of them."  
Bisca finishes Alzack's explanation as the rest of Fairy Tail look on in awe.  
"The magnum is a six chamber shooter. The blast you saw is nothing compared to it's full power."  
"What!?" Macao and Wakaba turned in unison. "There's no way!"  
"Don't worry, there's always a downfall. And to the magnum, it uses nothing but the users magic. Though Reve is strong, he's spent on magic, which is probably why he's using it now. The magnum takes all of your magic that you have and divides it into six shots. So you'll see five more bullets that size before Reve gives out due to lack of magic."  
Romeo turns back to the screen as he continues watching. "I wanna see it full strength..."  
In her flame empress armor, Erza hovered over the blast just in time. Now looking at the destroyed street,  
Her eyes widened as she examined the carnage. "From one shot... But I'm well aware of that weapon. And if we're gonna survive, there's something I have to do.."  
"Better do it soon then. Heh." As Erza looked up, the view of the cocky smile on Reve's face was quickly blocked with a his own foot as Reve sent a spinning kick to the top of Erza'a head. Erza goes crashing into the ground and to the other side of the long road,  
Or what used to be the stone road that covered the ground; now just a giant ditch of dirt. Reve lands on the other side, one hand in his pocket and the other hand dangled the magnum. "Alright Titania, lets end this right here and now."  
"Reve..." Sidney groaned out. "Stick with your team Reve."  
"Reve, lets fight together, we don't have time for one on ones."  
"Hey, Luke. Shut up." Reve's tone was enough to halt the copy cat''s words, but not from respect, but from curiosity.  
"...You're gonna ruin our chances of winning. Screw your thing with Erza." Takeru added on as he began taking steps away from Reve to not get caught in the crossfire. Reve dismisses the comment, only to tilt his head back a little. "Once I clear out Erza, you two are paying for the victory celebration. Out of pocket. Deal?"  
No one was in a betting or joking matter but the cocky gunslinger.  
"Reve.." Skye looked on with worry as the other White Eclipse members who were eliminated slowly walked over to the rest of the guild after being escorted out of the city.  
"You don't have to accept Erza." Laxus told her. Yet, raising from the ground, Erza stood in her Armadura Fairy armor. The all pink armor that held two swords, one of her strongest armors. With the most stern look in her face, she points a sword at Reve. "I promise you. I'll make it to you, before you can finish me, Reve Volver. Besides, you only have five shots left, am I right?"  
Reve growls a bit in a lone tone as he takes aim.  
"Erza..." Lucy watched along with everyone else.  
"Why aren't we attacking by the way?" Gajeel asked.  
Laxus nodded at Gajeel's question. "You wouldn't want anyone getting in the way of your face off would you? The free for all will resume after this. These two have more bad blood than anyone."  
Gajeel nodded after a few seconds of understanding the situation.  
"Well here. Now I only have four left!" Reve pulls the trigger, and the massive beam if raw magic goes hurling towards Erza. Erza sprints straight for it. Her blades begin to glow a green aura. She then slashes into the beam. In a deadlock, she could already feel her armor begin to give way to the magnum's bullet. Still, with the strength of her armor, she redirected the bullets path into the air as it harmlessly flies into the clouds before dispersing. "Four.."  
"Don't count for me you smug little!" Out of pure frustration Reve fires another bullet. Erza, who was still sprinting towards Reve, quickly leaps to a building side and began running the wall to avoid the blast. Which she successfully did. The radius of the blast blinded Reve's view of Erza, and she knew this as well; this is where she went to take advantage. "Three!" She lunged towards Reve with her glowing swords. She rears back, and then slashes forward the gunslinger who /just/ now caught glimpse of the fairy inches away from him. Only Reve would have time to give a smirk as a he merely tilts the magnum upwards from his hip and fires his fourth bullet, point blank into Erza's abdomen. "Heh..Two." The massive beam goes sky rocketing diagonally into the air. Erza's body was seen falling lifelessly as the beam continued to rocket into the air.  
"Erza!" Natsu called out to the dead ears of the Erza Scarlet as she hit the ground with a loud thud.  
"Heh. And I still have two bullets left." Reve twirled the gun in his hand as he looked at the remaining mages as the lacrima screen made it's way to Erza. "Now...lets-"  
"Hold...on."  
"What!? There's no way!"  
Erza began to slowly struggle to her hands and knees, then her feet as she swayed back and forth, trying to find her balance. Though she panted heavily, a confident smile was painted on her face. Her armor was nearly broken to pieces, yet, she pointed her sword At Reve; still yards away from the gunslinger. "You have two left right!?" I hope you're ready! "She charged him once again as she yelled out."  
"Why won't you..stay down!" Reve, now infuriated, fires off his fifth shot. The beam hurled towards Erza, just the same as any other. "Five!" Erza yelled out once again as he swords began to glow. Almost like a drill, she put both of her swords together as she somehow, miraculously began to pierce through the beam of magic.  
"No way! She won't make that!"  
"Reve now is a good time to move!" Kuro yelled for Reve as Erza continued to lunge forward through the magnums bullet.  
"This goes beyond...anything Erza's ever done." Levy and the others continue to watch in suspense, waiting to see the outcome of the two powerhouses colliding.  
Reve looked on, frozen in awe. His eyes widened from the sight. In the next moment, Erza appears out of the beam, unscathed, as she slashes her dual swords right through Reve, holding her stance as Reve's delayed reaction to the pain kicks in, finally coughing up a spool of blood into the air.  
"Shit!" Waiston watched as Reve's body begins to tilt backwards, lifelessly.  
"Idiot!" Luke and Takeru cried out in unison as Erza stood from her position, opening her eyes to look at them both.  
Reve fell backwards with widened eyes. "...Bang."  
As Reve fell, he reached back and fired off his last bullet.  
"Down!" Takeru pushed Luke to the ground as Waiston and Kuro duck into a corner themselves.  
"ERZA!" Natsu and Lucy both yell for her. But it was too late. Erza turned right into the blast, lifting her off her feet and into the building behind her. The lacrima screen floats over the mage...then finally counts her out; an X mark appearing over her face on screen.  
"Erza..." Makarov looked on disbelief along with Mavis and the others.  
The first master did nothing but slowly nod. "She did the right thing. Reve could of changed the entire fight with that weapon by himself."  
"She sacrificed herself on purpose you idiot." Sidney slammed his fist into the railing, causing it to crack a good bit. "Where are your senses? Aren't you an S class Reve?"  
"Cut him some slack Sidney." Calium said, looking over at the ghost mage.  
"I won't. What he did was unnecessary. We better not lose."  
"Erza...she's out..." Lucy covered her mouth in shock.  
"What about Reve?"  
Natsu looked over at the gunslinger who was out cold as well, an X appearing over his face on screen.

.  
"Well shit. They cancelled each other out." Kiora laughed a bit as she continued watching the fight, sitting Indian style on the tower. "This is too good right now. It's like the best of the amateurs."  
"So, White Eclipse is all out of S class mages, while the Fairy blokes still have one left eh? I don't know how much trouble that Laxus guy is gonna be. Hell, the wanker might clean house on all of them. Look at them, look at the brown haired one, he's beat."  
"Patience Maggie." Arcturus began to yawn a bit as he scratches the back of his head. "It still looks pretty even."  
"Arc is right." Rugal added. "This will come down to final blows. What you think Daityas?"  
Daityas stays silent with his arms crossed, keeping his thoughts inside. "Kuro...you ungrateful bastard."

.  
"Sagittarius, go back."  
The horse cosplayer salutes as he beings to vanish back to the spirit world. "Moshi Moshi!" Lucy looks over at Loke with a smile. "You ready?"  
Loke merely grins as he fixes his shades. "I'm always ready to protect and fight beside you, Lucy."  
Gajeel walks from around the corner.  
"Well...now that the awkwardness is over-"  
"Ahhh!"  
Before Gajeel could finish his sentence, Luke threw a fiery hook towards the iron dragon slayer. Gajeel managed to see it coming though and put up a forearm as he goes sliding backwards away from Laxus. "Gihe! You came at me like you had a real personal beef kid! Let me help squash it!" Gajeel grabbed Luke by his wrist and swung him around, but the second he let go, before Luke could go flying off, he conjured up a mirror in mid air. Luke then planted his feet on he mirror, cracking it from impact. Now, merely feet away from Gajeel Redfox, he crouches and then lunges towards the off guard mage. "Fire Dragon, Sword horn!" Luke Headbutts Gajeel right into the stomach, sending them both flying into one or the remaining buildings. As the smoke cleared, Luke and Gajeel were now in a tie up. Gajeel was proving to be stronger as Luke slowly went to his right knee. Gajeel, with a grin on his face, then slammed his head against Luke's, knocking him dizzy. Gajeel then released his grip and reared back for a punch but Luke quickly recovers from the headbutt and legs sweeps him, causing him to lose his balance as he falls to his rear. "Ice Make:..."  
As another collision happens in Luke and Gajeel's area, Waiston hops up to the rooftops, now across from Lucy and Loke. Lucy turned to him, ready to go along with the lion Loke. Waiston merely grins as he charges them both, sliding into the middle of them both, he quickly fires a back kick to Lucy, which she blocks but still stumbles backwards. With glowing fists, Loke begins swinging a combination of punches. Waiston did the same as his fists were now wrapped in solid ice and raw sky magic wrapped around them. After a short exchange of fist to fist connection. Lucy comes back with her Fleuve d'étoiles, whipping it towards Waiston. He ducks. The Fleuve d'étoiles wraps around Loke instead, and before Lucy could recognize her mistake and unravel the whip, Waiston slams his fist into Loke's jaw. Though not enough to get rid of the persistent spirit, Loke goes tumbling to the edge of the building. Waiston then turns back to Lucy and quickly pounced at her. She scrambles away from the incoming punch and quickly pulls out a key. "Taurus!"  
With a loud Moo, Taurus lunges out of his gate, swinging his axe vertically towards Waiston. Bursting with confidence however, Waiston catches the axe by it's sides. Now in a struggle with the buff bull, Waiston smirks as he begins to take advantage, until Loke quickly comes back with a glowing fist to the jaw of the Frozen Sky dragon; sliding him backwards a great deal. Now standing near the edge, he stared down the two spirits that stood in front of Lucy.  
No words were spoken. They stared each other down from across the once stone path of Crocus. Takeru gave his regular emotionless stare as Natsu's face showed nothing but determination, with his scarf blowing westward in the wind. Takeru took a step forward, only to be stopped by Kuro.  
"Wait..let me go. Finish off Laxus."  
"Tch..who made you captain?"  
Kuro turns to Takeru...and smiles. "We don't need another Reve, Takeru. If you want to have a showdown with Natsu, do it some other time when you're both full strength. This is more important. You can finish off Laxus because I believe you can. He hits heavy so watch out. In the meantime, I have a certain technique for Natsu that'll finish him cleanly. Lets /win/ first Takeru. Your unspoken rivalry with Salamander isn't going anywhere."  
Taker looked at Kuro, and then walked forward, slapping his arm out the way. He began to stalk towards...Laxus. Laxus at this time was fluctuating with lightning magic.  
Kuro smiled, and quickly turns to Natsu. "Dragneel, I'm finishing you here."  
"Fat chance!" Natsu grins with excitement as he slammed a fist into his palm. "Lets go you bastard!"  
And with that, Kuro took off towards Natsu. Electing to not use any magic yet, Kuro began throwing a jab to hook combination at the Salamander. Natsu then begins blocking and dodging the blows, until a right hook skids across his face. Natsu reacts by slamming a spinning back fist into the nose of Kuro, causing him to stumble back. Staying on the attack, Natsu followed with a right straight, but Kuro ducked the punch, and then grabbed Natsu by the arm with both hands. He then flipped him over and onto the ground. Not letting go of his arm, Kuro slams a kick to the ribs of the scrambling Natsu. The salamander quickly springs up after taking the shot to the ribs and throws a fiery punch to the jaw of Kuro, causing him to let go of his arm. While regaining his balance, Kuro quickly slapped his palms together. "Fire Make: Tornado!" From the magic seal in front of him, a giant flaming tornado comes spinning towards Natsu. The fire dragon slayer grins as he holds his ground. "Aye...you must have forgotten."  
The tornado sweeps him off his feet and into the funnel. Seconds later, the sounds of flames being inhaled were being heard. Natsu made quick work with the tornado as he landed on his feet, smirking at the Fire Make Mage. "Oi! Not bad flames! Now it's my turn!"  
Natsu rears his head back as his cheeks and stomach expand abnormally. Roar, of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu launches his head forward, firing off an enormous funnel of flames directly towards Kuro. Kuro Crane returns the smirk that Natsu held when he let off his fire tornado. He slapped his palms together once more. "Fire make: Jar!" From another magic seal, a jar made of fire appeared directly in front of Kuro. The jar then began absorbing the Dragon's roar whole. Not only that, but behind the jar was a small tube shaped line of fire that was connected to Kuro. Once the roar was completely absorbed, Kuro began to bulk up a bit, throwing away his coat because his arms were making the sleeves too tight. Natsu looked on in surprise as this went on. "A jar? That absorbs fire?" He goes back to his excited grin. "This guy is good."  
"Right, lets finish this now. One attack." Kuro slammed his palms together once again, except this time, his right palm was upside down.  
"You did not!" Kiora shouted.  
"Tell me you didn't Daityas." Ruika added.  
"Why!?" Tobias shouted, yet no one paid attention to.  
Daityas shrugged. "Relax. It's the weakest one. And I'll admit, I got ahead of myself thinking Kuro was gonna join us, but that's okay. He's gonna perish with the rest of them anyways. On the flip side, I'm so proud of you annoying asses. You recognized the attack before he's even started."  
"This is why I never teach anyone anything of mine." Arc boasted.  
Kiora raised a finger to comment on Arc and Takeru due to his lack of memory, but once again was quickly halted by everyone else's evil looks towards her. She huffs. "I hate when people think they're right and you can't correct them."  
"Hm? What was that Kiora?"  
She waves her hands frantically towards Arc. "Nothing! Just keep watching Kuro kill everyone with Daityas move."

"Alright Natsu! Eat this one!" A giant magic circle appears under the feet of Kuro, but the radius was so large that Natsu was now in it too. The magic pressure alone kept Natsu from moving. "I can't.. move!" As the entire area shook, Kuro let out a yell as he began his attack. "This one is from my friend, Daityas. Hells flames: Eruption!" From the magic circle, hells flames magic arose, shooting into the sky, capturing Natsu inside as well as he let out a hell of agony.  
"Natsu!" Lucy turned to see Natsu get swept into the flames.  
"Now." Waiston sprints towards Lucy. Taurus tries to cut him off with a swing of the axe, but he slides between the bulls legs. He then lunges towards the celestial mage as she looked back at Waiston in horror. Wide open.  
"Frozen Sky Dragon wing slash" Waiston spreads his arms like wings, but Loke steps in, slamming a Regulas fist the same time Waiston fires the Wing slash into the now in the way celestial spirit. Loke's fist slammed directly in between the eyes off Waiston. Loke grins as he slowly dissipates back to the spirit world. "Loke..!"  
Waiston falls over in K.O from the well placed punch. Lucy, who had fallen to her seat from the shock of Waiston charging her, now holds Loke's key. She smiles as she holds it. "Thank you.."

"Raging Bolt!"  
Laxus fired off a stream of lightning from the sky that Tak side flipped away from. He then charged towards Laxus. Laxus swung heavy punch after punch in his bulky form, but Takeru was too elusive as he kept dodging; until Laxus caught Takeru right in the abdomen. Laxus held the punch there as he sent sparks of electricity into Tak's body, continuously shocking the mage where he stood. Baring his teeth and refusing to cry out in pain at any decibel, Takeru reaches out for and grabs Laxus's arms. He then struggles, but pushed the arm away from his body. Laxus quickly follows with a right kick aimed for the Shadow Dragon's chest, But Takeru sways away from it and hops in the air. Spinning, he concentrated his magic into his right foot. "Talons of the Shadow Dragon!" Takeru then slammed his shadow infused kick into the neck of Laxus. The blow created a loud thud sound as Laxus just stood there, and from delayed reaction, Laxus fell over unconscious. Takeru panted, but he was far from tired. It was the excitement getting to the dragon slayer as he realized he just took down an S class mage of Fairy Tail. His aura begins to show as he stood there, heavily panting, but it came off different. It came off as a thicker black than his normal shadowy aura did. The same thick blackness began to cover his pupils as he stood there in the middle of the fight, as if possessed.  
Gajeel slams Luke with another right hook, causing the copy mage to go sliding out of the building and right behind Takeru. He slid on his back until he bumped into Tak's legs. With pitch black eyes Tak turned and the second he spotted Gajeel walking out of broken down building, he fired a giant funnel of Thick blackness towards him.  
No time to react, Gajeel was swept off his feet and through the building he walked out of. Then through two more as the funnel pushes Gajeel streets away.  
Finally coming to a stop, Gajeel was out cold, borderline lifeless.  
"Gajeel!" Levy cried out to the unresponsive mage, not that he could hear her from that position anyways. Levy covered her mouth in horror as tears streamed from her face.  
"Gajeel is badly hurt!" Macao screamed. "Someone go check on him!"  
"You should hurry.." Sidney stated.  
"Shut up nows not the time you asshole!" Cana barked towards Sidney.  
"Quiet drunk. I'm being serious. Everyone down there may be in trouble unless someone can snap Takeru out of it. Oh well. Hopefully he'll go after Fairy Tail first. Then I can poof down there and stop him afterwards."  
"In trouble how?" Makarov asked.  
"You guys remember Arc right?"

[Flashback]  
"I'll be a part of you. So you'll have memories of the things that I've seen. Don't let them get to you, they're just demons." These words from Arcturus rung out to Takeru as he stood in the pitch black training room. "They're just demons. I can do this. They're just demons. I want to use Arc's magic to remember him by. I'll be unbeatable, just like he was. They're, just, demons." Takeru takes a deep breath as he stared into the pitch blackness. Though unseen, a black magic circle began to form under his feet. He then erupted into a yell as the force of Arc's magic began to shake the entire guild.  
"Huh?" Luke and Selene were sitting in the common area with everyone else when the shaking began. "Is that Tak?" Luke asked.  
Selene got up from her seat and walked to the training room. "I'll check on him."  
Luke followed Selene as they went down the hall to the training room. A loud war cry could be heard as the shaking continued. The shaking came to the point where Selene and Luke had to grab the wall to brace each themselves.  
"Geez! What is he doing!"  
Selene makes it to the window but can't see a thing due to the darkness. "I can't see anything it's to dark."  
Inside, Takeru continues to yell as his eyes become a pitch black just like the room. As he did so, he was cry turned into ones of terror as unspeakable images of the demons Arc preached about appeared around Takeru. At least in his head they did.  
"...He's in trouble! Tak! Open the door!" Luke tugged on the locked door, trying to force it open.  
"Move." Selene covered her arm in her diamond scales as she slammed a fist into the door knob, opening the door. "Find the light switch."  
"Found it!" Luke flipped it on, but it was still as dark as ever. "It's not working!"  
"It's working... Takeru! Can you hear me!?" Selene begins blindly making her way to Takeru, occasionally falling over as the shaking didn't stop. Still, she kept going until she hugged a figure that she prayed was Takeru.  
"Takeru!" Selene's yell rung in Takeru's ears, quickly dispersing the demons in his head. The shaking slowed until they eventually came to a stop. As Takeru powered down from attempting to control Arc's darkness magic, his pupils turned back to normal as he looked at Luke and then Selene who was still hugging him. "What..."  
"You okay?" Luke asked from a distance.  
"Yeah I'm-"  
Before he could finish his statement, a red mark appeared on his face from Selene's palm. He holds his face from a bit of shock. "Don't do that!" She yelled. "You don't know what Arc was capable of! He gave you that so you could live, not so you could kill yourself again!" Takeru just looked at her and blinked. "...Sorry."  
"You had us worried there amigo." Luke walked towards them both, patting Takeru on the shoulder. "Lets just say, that magic is for last resorts only okay?"  
Takeru merely nods as they begin walking out of the training room.

"They're only demons..."  
[End FlashBack]

Luke looked up at the same pitch black pupils he remembered from that day. "No... Tak! Wake up right now!"  
Luke scrambles to his feet, and begins shaking Takeru vigorously. "Takeru wake up! Don't do this again!"  
Takeru gave Luke a blank stare, and then an evil grin as he raised a hand. Darkness magic swirled around it as he prepared to strike Luke down. Luke looked up in shock and horror and then flinched, getting ready for the worst as he tried one more time!  
"TAKERU!"  
He stopped... Not because of Luke himself but..  
"Takeru! Stop! Fight it! You're stronger than that, don't do it!"  
Her words somehow miraculously rang through Tak's ears. Even from so far away. His pupils then turn back to normal as his aura vanishes. "Luke...get up. We have a fight to win."  
Luke opened his eyes to see Takeru back to normal. He smiled in such relief. "Oh my god...thank you. I thought..."  
"OKAY, SOMEONE EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW!" Arc turned to everyone in a furious manner. "I KNOW MY MAGIC WHEN I SEE IT! SPEAK UP OR YOURE ALL GOING TO THE VOID!"  
"Tobias did it!" Kiora shouted as she scooted away from the enraged demon slayer.  
"WHAT!? NO!" Tobias shook is head frantically as he too moved away from Arc.  
"GIVE ME ANSWERS!" Arc began to shake the tower until Daityas turned to him. "Hey, shut up and we'll explain."  
He snarled at first, then relaxed, waiting on an explanation. "Well?"  
"Well you see.."

"What was that!?" Lucy looked on in surprise. She then remembered. "Natsu!"  
Kuro was just now dispersing the  
Hells flames as Natsu came slowly crashing down right above Kuro. Kuro looked up as he smiled. "I beat Dragneel. Right? That makes me the one of the best, right?"  
"Natsu...!" Happy looked on from the screen. "He's not done! He's Natsu! NATSU!"  
His eyes flash open. Natsu then quickly flips into a dive bomb as his fiery aura covers him. He then collides head on to an unprepared Kuro, right between the eyes. The blow caused a massive shockwave from the collision as the ground was further uprooted. Natsu stood as the smoke cleared, hunched over and panting, but just like Takeru, it was from the excitement. Though he has burns from the flames, Natsu stood across from Takeru and Luke, raring to go. Lucy was on the back of Taurus as the bull jumped down from the roof, landing beside Natsu.  
"It's two on two now... But anything can happen. We haven't seen lightning flame, or white shadow. But what if Tak goes crazy again?" Zalen looked on in worry as he fixed his glasses.  
"Tak..." Selene looked on with everyone else as the two remaining mages of White Eclipse stared down the two remaining fairies.

"This isn't good. Both Luke and Takeru are strong. I'm just gonna get in the way and-" As Lucy began her thoughts, Natsu cut her off, as if he knew what she was thinking.  
"Oi...two on two Lucy. This is where we thrive right? Lets show them what the best team in the best guild can do!" The Salamander grinned at the celestial mage. She slowly returned the smile as the high five each other. They then turn back to their opponents.

"No hard feelings right?" Luke said as he held his position.  
"None at all." Natsu said in a mocking tone. "None except for the slander you gave Fairy Tail."

"Then by all means Salamander." Takeru taunted.

"Beat the apologies out of us!"


	44. Chapter 44

White Eclipse  
Chapter 44

"Yeah! The strongest team!" Romeo shouted, throwing a fist in the air.  
"These two are inseparable in the end! White Eclipse is done!"  
"This is your strongest team?" Sidney asked rhetorically. "You're kidding right? Takeru and Luke aren't exactly a team, but Luke thrives on teamwork. And Tak, well Tak just thrives. What you're about to witness is pure art between two White Eclipse mages. Don't let them stick together. It'll be over in an instant.  
"That's the thing!" Makarov chuckled out.  
"With these two, Natsu and Lucy. It's never over in an instant. They've tackled opponents that should of killed them long ago. I'm sure two mages from a guild that's holding on by a prayer shouldn't be too much of an issue."  
"Watch your mouth Makarov." Calium spoke, but Makarov kept laughing.  
"Sorry sorry, the excitement really gets to us Fairies you know?"  
"We'll see how big that grin on your face is once this fight is over.."

.  
"No use of stalling anymore." Takeru grinned towards the infamous duo as a shadowy aura began to shroud around him. Natsu does the same a a fiery aura covers around the Salamander. Lucy kept her determined face as Taurus stood in front of her, dripping his axe. Luke also slid into a fighting stance of his own. He merely smirks as the Copy cat snaps his fingers, creating a yellow magic seal under both of the fairies. They both quickly roll out of range as a plethora of lightning surge up from the ground, attempting to shock them and hold them down. The second Natsu rolled out of the way, Takeru took off towards him at a high speed. Natsu rolled and hopped up right into a right hook from Takeru, slamming right into his jaw. Takeru follows with a left, but Natsu blocks, and retaliates with his own left hook, connecting against the Shadow Dragon's jaw. Natsu then slams a knee into his abdomen, and then another left hook back to his jaw. He went for a right hook, but Takeru quickly recovered his senses. In one motion, Takeru ducked under the punch and then hopped up into a spinning roundhouse, slamming the kick against Natsu's head. Natsu goes tumbling off into the griping before quickly recovering, and now coming to a sliding stop as Takeru gave pursuit. Natsu fires off a quick and low powered fire dragon's roar. Takeru smirks as he continues running forward. Like a submarine diving into the water, Tak quickly takes on his shadow form and dives into the ground, avoiding the roar altogether without losing any momentum. He then reappeared out of the ground beside Natsu and swung a shadow infused punch. Natsu counters by meeting him fist to fist with his own fiery aura covering his fists. The shock waves were strong enough to shatter the remaining windows that still stood intact.  
Luke ran right for Lucy, and as he neared Taurus, the giant bull swung down his axe towards the copy mage, but with a quick spin, he was around Taurus in an instant. What happened next threw everyone off. The second he spun around Taurus, Lucy met the copy mage with a straight punch to the nose. Though the weakest attack Luke had dealt with all day, a punch to the nose was a punch to the nose and the copy mage went stumbling backwards, more shocked than anything. After groaning in aggravation, Luke looked up from sheltering his nose from the throbbing pain to see Lucy in her interpretation of a boxer's stance. Seeing something like this really put Luke in a trance, leaving him wide open. Taurus comes sliding to Luke's right, and once again swings down his axe. Luke hops back, but the force of the shock wave from the collision was enough to knock him off his feet. "Quick! Scorpio!"  
"We are!" Out of his gate quickly, Scorpio appeared crouching. He fires off a sand buster, except Taurus puts his axe in front of the attack, allowing the sand to wrap around the heavy weapon.  
"Taurus! Go!"  
Taurus charges a recovering Luke. He leaps into the air away from Taurus prematurely. "Gotcha!" With a loud mooing sound, the bull swings his axe upward, causing the Sand Buster to travel upwards, as if Scorpio fired it himself. The funnel of sand slams right into Luke, causing him to soar upwards.  
"Good shot!"  
Wincing in pain, Luke turns over, and slams a fist into his palm, causing a frosty aura around him. "Ice make: Lance!" Out of the blue seal in front of him, five ice lances fire out and down towards Lucy and the spirits. With no time to protect their key holder, Lucy and the spirits all get slammed by the lances. Lucy falls back as she winces from the attack, yet she makes it back to her feet.  
"Taurus! Scorpio! Everyone okay!?"  
"We are! I'm good to go!"  
"One little attack won't stop me from protecting your nice body Lucy!"  
"Right..." Lucy then spots a shadowy circle under Taurus's feet. "Huh!? Taurus! Look out!"  
It was too late, Taurus was being pulled into the shadows by a now visible Takeru.  
"I thought he was...!?"  
Lucy looks back over at Natsu, who was swinging fiery punches at another Takeru. Finally catching him with a powerful uppercut, the Takeru Natsu was fighting disperses into nothing. "Huh? A fake?"  
Lucy quickly turns back around with Taurus's key in her hand. "Taurus! Go back!" But nothing happened. Taurus was sucked into the shadows. The giant bull then appeared from a little ways away from Lucy and Scorpio, being tossed into the air like nothing as his body dissipates back to the spirit world. "Taurus!"  
"You have bigger issues." Luke smirked while behind Lucy. Her eyes widened, not turning around. "How did he get down so fast.."  
"Ice make:... Geyser!"  
From the ground up, where Lucy was once standing. A huge tower of ice forms into the air with her trapped inside. The lacrima screen makes it's way up to give the decision.  
"If she can't move, she can't compete. That's how you do it Gray."  
"Lucy!" Natsu looked up at the tip of the geyser. He squinted to get a better view, and then smirked.  
Luke raised a brow at Natsu's facial expression.  
"She's not done." Takeru said as he too looked up.  
"What do you mean?" The copy mage asked. "She's frozen solid."  
Just then, the ice breaks from the top.  
"I'm fine! She says."  
Luke, now shocked along with puzzled, continues to look up. "Who's voice was that?"  
"It looks like a clock from here." Takeru replied.  
"A clock?"  
"Ehe.. Horologium." Natsu grinned as the clock jumped down beside him. Lucy quickly crawls out of the clock spirit. She then returns to her feet and smiles gratefully towards the spirit. "Thank you so much Horologium!"  
"It's not a problem. Win your fight." He said as he returned through his celestial gate. Lucy wipes her forehead to signify a close call. "Won't get a second chance like that again!" She smiled as she winked at Luke.  
"... Don't get cocky. We're just getting started here!"  
"It's too bad it's time for you're Early exit! Natsu! How long can you hold them off!?"  
"Huh?" The Fire Dragon blinked at her in confusion, but before he could answer, Lucy pulled out another key. "Open! Gate of the twins! Gemini!"  
From their gate, two small blue humanoids begin floating around Lucy.  
"What's the plan Lucy?" Natsu asked, looking at the now confident celestial wizard.  
"Plan? We never have a plan Natsu! Lets just win this!" Lucy then points at Takeru! "That one Gemini!"  
Quickly, in a poof of smoke, Gemini takes the shape of Takeru and then charges the original. "Oh!?" Gemini swings a shadow infused punch towards Takeru, but the shadow dragon slayer catches the punch as they go sliding backwards. The same happens to the other punch Gemini threw, but that's all Gemini and Lucy wanted as Gemini trips Takeru over. After a quick roll, they both hop back up. Luke is immediately confused. Gemini then speaks. "Luke...what are you waiting on. Hurry before the numbers catch up to us. I can't beat myself. Gemini then takes off towards Natsu, swinging convincing punches towards the mage.  
"Huh?" Takeru watches the imposter charge Natsu. Lucy then points at the real Takeru. "Don't stand there twins! Take out Luke!"  
"As if, amigo!" Luke quickly lunged at the confused Dragon Slayer, who was still watching Natsu and Gemini. "Oh shit...Luke!"  
"Iron fist of the Fire dragon!" Takeru turned right into a clean Iron fist, slammed right into his jaw as he goes soaring backwards, into building after building.  
"Yeah..!" Luke stood proudly after his hit to Takeru, and then turned back to Lucy, pointing. "You're running low on spirits, amigo!"  
Lucy, Natsu, and "Takeru." All begin cracking up. Luke raises a brow in confusion. Then it connects.  
"No..."  
"I'm sorry but that deserved a laugh." Lucy then stops laughing as she goes back to her confident yet determined outlook.  
"Okay Gemini!" The twin spirits poof again, this time an exact replica of Lucy as they hop over to beside her. They then touch palms as a golden aura comes over them both and a golden magic seal under them both. Lucy began chanting the words to Urano Metria.  
"She's really taken the lead of this team." Erza says with a small smile. "She's come a long way."  
Luke was stuck in awe as the eighty eight stars began to "form" around them.  
"Luke you gotta move!" Zalen yelled out, of course hitting on deaf ears from such a distance.  
"He can't...Luke's done, there's no where to go." Sidney sighed a bit as Lucy was almost ready to attack.  
"I...I..." Luke stood frozen as his eyes looked around, spotting all eighty eight stars.  
"Urano Met-"  
In a blur of white in shadow magic, Takeru appeared directly in front of Lucy in his White Shadow mode, seething in anger. Natsu's eyes widen as Lucy was now the one in shock. Takeru balls his fist. Natsu lunges towards Takeru, but it was too late. With no remorse, Takeru had slammed a right haymaker, infused with both white and shadow magic, into the temple of Lucy Heartfilia. /Everyone watches in complete shock and silence as the celestial mage falls to the side with a blank stare, completely out cold. Natsu stops running, and watches in horror as Lucy fell.  
"It's not so funny now huh?" Takeru says as he looks at Lucy. He then turns to Natsu. "Lets end this shit, I'm getting annoyed.  
"I wouldn't be surprised if she was dead..." Sidney quietly spoke. "I know I'm not the only one who felt that. Takeru swung for the fences..."  
All of Fairy Tail was quiet... Until Makarov turned to Calium. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR BRAT!?"  
Calium shook his head, as he prepared to defend Takeru. "...You read the rules. All is fair."  
"How dare you! It isn't that serious!" Levy screamed.  
Cana held Levy back as she continued to scream at White Eclipse's master.  
"First Gajeel and now Lucy! He's a monster why would you even let him do that!?"  
"Hey...I'm okay..." Gajeel winced from the blow he just saw Lucy take. "A lot better than Lucy right now at least."  
"The only monster here is me anyways." Adamantine said as he crosses his arms. "I for one applaud Takeru's hit. It was a bit weaker to what I gave to idc boy on day one. Heh."  
"What did you say!?" Gray roared out as Juvia held him down, pleading him to calm down.  
"Hm. I remember an old guild master just before these four started fighting, had a cocky smile on his face, preaching about the best team in the best guild. Now that Lucy is out cold, you're upset." Calium gave a smirk towards Makarov.  
"I'll crush you."  
"You can try Dreyar."  
"If the two masters go at it. I won't hesitate to ruin the rest of you chumps." Adamantine's eyes flash as he grinned, secretly hoping that they would fight.  
"No ones afraid of you." Erza says as she grabs Makarov by the shoulder, Mirajane grabbing the other.  
"You should be!" Kairi yelled out. "The only reason you're upset now is because we're about to win!"  
"L-Lucy..." Natsu stared in horror at the blonde haired mage. The image of her face on the screen was now X'ed out. Takeru did nothing but smile at Natsu. "That's right, lets get Salamander at his best. When he's pissed off. When he's upset. When he's fighting for his nakama. Let it go."  
Natsu began to tremble in anger. Slowly, a towering inferno began to cover him. Behind that, lightning sparked around the mage as well.  
"Oh? The lightning flame mode? Against the White Shadow?"  
"And the copy mage.. I'm still here."  
Natsu turned to Luke after hearing him speak. He crouched barely an inch before taking off towards him. The speed even took Takeru off guard. "L-Luke!"  
"IRON FIST!"  
With wide eyes, Luke desperately puts up a mirror right in front of him as a shield.  
"OF THE LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON!" Natsu punched the mirror, easily shattering it. The fist went through the mirror and slams right into Luke's nose. First there was a shockwave, and then a delayed reaction. In the next instant, Luke goes flying backwards for yards on in until he finally slams into the ground, still sliding into the ground until he finally came to a stop. He was out cold the moment Natsu punch landed. Everything else was just insult to injury to the copy mage. An X mark appears on the screen as it was now one on one. Takeru vs Natsu.  
Takeru looks on with widened eyes as Natsu stood in his follow through. He then turned around to the White Shadow dragon. He glared at Takeru. Takeru then glared back as he slid into a fighting stance.  
"You wanted this..." Natsu began stalking towards Tak.  
"I did. And I'm ready for it. It's White Eclipse, or-"  
Before Tak could finish his sentence, Natsu palmed the dragon slayer's face and slammed him into the ground, erupting his lighting and flame mixture from his hand in the process. "Shut up!" Natsu then grabs Takeru by the collar and lifts him off the ground, and tosses him into the rubble that used to be a building. Takeru goes crashing through. Natsu charges again, but the second he was close, Takeru fires a White shadow roar out of the rubble without warning. The attack roars towards Natsu. He puts his arms up in an X formation to cushion the blow as he slides backwards. He digs his feet into the ground to stop the sliding. By the time he stopped, Takeru appeared beside Natsu and begins to swing a combination of White and Shadow infused punches towards Natsu. The first three punches slam into his face, but Natsu quickly recovers as he begins blocking the rest of them with his lightning flamed arms. He then retaliates as he ducks a left hook from Takeru and crouches to the ground. Without hesitation, Natsu slams a sword horn dead into the belly of Takeru, folding him over as they both go soaring a couple of streets over. Natsu finally hops back as Takeru continues flying. He hits the ground but quickly hops up before he goes tumbling. Holding his stomach, he panted heavily as he looked up at Natsu who continued stalking him. "B-Bastard! You're a.."  
"Go ahead." Natsu says as he continues inching towards the wounded mage. "I've heard it all before. Monster, mad man. Demon.."  
"Demon..." Takeru slowly rose to his feet, still shaky as he began laughing.  
"I've seen demons! You're not a demon! I'll show you a demon!" Takeru continued laughing. Natsu stopped for a few seconds to figure out why he was laughing. "You, a demon?! You ever called you that must have low expectations.."  
"You're talking to much." Natsu lunged towards Takeru once again. "It's time to end this! Secret dragon slayer art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade!" Natsu engulfs one hand in lightning and the other in flames. By swinging his arms around, Natsu creates a highly destructive vortex of fire and lightning that slams right into and through Takeru. Natsu ends up on the other side as he finishes his attack.  
Badly burned, as the delayed reaction kicked in, Takeru stood with wide eyes as he began falling backwards.  
"He's done it!" Romeo yells.  
"Natsu won!"  
"You better not touch that ground! Die on your feet!" Sidney yells in an uproar, and inches away from touching the ground in KO, Takeru yanks himself back up as streams of thick blackness once again steams off of him. "A demon huh..." Takeru bared his teeth as he then let out a loud war cry to fight through the immense pain he was in from Natsu's last attack.  
"He's still up!?" Natsu stood as he looked at the Darkness wavering off of Takeru.  
"Oh no...twice in one day. This isn't good.." Selene looked on with worry in her eyes.  
"Check again. This is marvelous." Sidney said as he folded his arms. Selene looked up at Sidney. "What do you mean?"  
"Look at the screen young Selene." Calium smiles as he takes his own advice while the screen was locked on to Takeru. "Look at his eyes."  
She takes a look. "They aren't black.."  
"Takeru is in control this time."  
"And what a time to do it!" Adam laughs out.  
"A demon huh...I'll show you a real demon." Takeru turns to Natsu as the entire area begins to shake between the darkness shadow and the lightning flame.

"No more miracles Salamander.

This ends now."

"BRING IT ON!"


	45. Chapter 45

White Eclipse  
Chapter 45

"This is way beyond some games. These two guilds hate each other. This has been far worse than Fairy Tail and Sabertooth last year." Ultear stood next to the seated Siegrain as she watched Takeru and Natsu stare each other down. "The city is in complete ruins and they're not done. Dragon slayer magic at it's finest I guess."  
"Nothing but reckless magic really." Siegrain chimed in. "There's no art to the chaos anymore. That's all dragon slayers are..reckless strength. But soon enough..I'll put an end to all of it."

"Brainwashed? Okay, let me get this straight. They somehow brainwashed me into believing that I was one of them instead of a Tartaros mage?"  
Daityas nods. "We don't know how, because we weren't there. But they got you and Taya both. We only knew one way to reverse the effects, so we did what we had to do. And poisoned you. Well...we meant to poison Taya, but that Takeru guy drunk the liquid instead, and then brainwashed you killed yourself in order to save him. It was an entire mess of things but you get it."  
"No, I don't. But whatever. I'm here now...again? Whatever. I'm here."  
"Don't leave us again." Sora said as she continued sitting on Arc's shoulders, patting him on the head.  
"Of course not.."

Everything was quiet aside from the uproar of their auras and the occasional pieces of rubble falling from it's position. Between the thick strands of darkness and shadows, and the fiery aura infused with lightning, the entire area shook again as cracks in the ground slowly began to form from just the pressure.  
Almost simultaneously, Takeru and Natsu lunge towards each other. Both swing a right fist towards their opponent, slamming them into their right jaw. Both take a single step back from the blow. Takeru quickly swings a hard right high kick, yet Natsu blocks it with both arms up, the force of the kick sending him sliding a good bit until he dug his feet into the ground. Pushing his leg away, Natsu quickly follows up with a left uppercut, slamming into Takeru's stomach. Takeru retaliates with a right uppercut to the same area against Natsu. He tries to follow with a leg sweep but Natsu leaps into the air. He then creates an orb of lightning and flames in each hand, combining them into one well sized orb. On the ground, Takeru was doing the same, except he didn't combine them. His darkness and shadow mixed orbs began growing in his palms as he waited for Natsu to fire; which he did. Takeru threw the orb in his right hand towards the incoming dazzling blaze Natsu tossed towards him. They meet in the middle with an explosive collision. Through the smoke, Natsu comes diving towards Takeru, throwing a hard right punch. Tak dodges by swaying out of the way, and as Natsu's fist slams into the ground, Takeru quickly slams a kick to the Salamander's gut. He then quickly hops over Natsu and slams the orb of darkness and shadow magic into the spine of Natsu, causing a huge explosion. Natsu goes tumbling out from the explosion as Takeru goes sliding the opposite direction from the force of his own attack. Natsu quickly kips up after tumbling back a few times but stays down on one knee as he pants heavily. Takeru begins breathing heavily as well, but stays on his feet. Seeing that Natsu was still awake and ready to go, Tak quickly fires a huge roar, just under the size of the one he KO'ed Gajeel with. Natsu makes his way to his feet as the roar comes hurling towards him. He inhales the air around him, and then quickly fires a Lightning Flame Dragon's roar. The two attacks collide into a struggle with so far, neither side giving an inch.  
"They're even!" Romeo shouted.  
"Bite your tongue squirt." Reve replied. "No ones even with a White Eclipse mage. You're either weaker or you're luckier." Reve sat next to the rest of the White Eclipse mages who competed. Everyone was in bandages. Luke had just joined them as well. Wendy comes running back back to the Fairy Tail group as well.  
"How's Lucy!?" Levy asked as Wendy panted a bit from her running.  
Wendy caught her breath and nodded with a small smile. "She's okay! She just needs rest!"  
"That's good." Makarov and Mavis both sighed as Wendy leaned back over the railing to watch the fight.  
"What I miss?" She asked.  
"A lot, yet nothing." Laxus answered. "These two are in a total deadlock."  
"Oh...come on Natsu!"  
The two funnels continued to give no leeway, until Takeru winced a bit from recent injuries. This gave Natsu the beginning push he needed. He gave it his all as the Lightning flame roar begins to push the Darkness Shadow roar back and back. In a matter of seconds, Takeru could now see Natsu's roar cover over his own, but he wasn't about to call it quits. He had an idea. "This is gonna be risky." He thought to himself as he activated his shadow mode. By this time, Natsu's lightning flame roar completely engulfs Takeru.  
"It swallowed him whole!?"  
"Yes and no, Kairi. Just keep watching." Sidney told the Angel take over mage. "It's a bold move. But I mean, strategy and conservativeness was thrown out the window a long time ago."  
The lightning Flame roar slams into the building at the end of the street, causing it to quickly collapse from the attack. As Natsu was about to end his attack.. "Solid fist... Of the Darkness Shadow Dragon!" Appearing right in front of Natsu, out of the funnel of lightning and fire, and now out of his shadow mode, Takeru slams a heavily infused darkness and shadow magic right fist into the bridge of Natsu's nose in a downward motion. The Salamander quickly goes crashing into the ground, leaving a crater three times his size.  
"He's out cold!" Kairi yelled!  
"Don't delay it! Count him out judge!" Heather added.  
"Natsu!" Wendy and Levy yelled in unison, looking on at the dragon slayer who has yet to move.  
Takeru stood over Natsu, panting heavily. He held his follow through as his knuckles dripped the blood of his opponent. Burn marks were placed all over the exposed skin of the Shadow dragon.  
"What are you waiting for! Count him out damn!" Selene yelled towards the screen while all of Fairy Tail watched in silence.  
Calium chuckled at the girls' excitement. "Even in such a mess, all they care about is being the best they can be. Sidney and Reve have really delivered the message to these brats." Sidney and Calium look at each other. Sidney nods as Calium smiles. Calium then looks back at Reve, who takes his eyes off the screen to look back at the guild master, giving him a small smile and a bandaged thumbs up.  
The lacrima screen zooms by Takeru and hovers over Natsu. After a few seconds...  
"Eh...heh... Smarts." Natsu's fingers begin to move; just enough for the lacrima screen to deem him still available to fight. He then slowly pushes up on his hands, staying on his palms and knees for a few seconds. Drops of blood drip from his nose and onto the ground. "It takes a bold mage to pull that off. I hope we can fight again Takeru. When we're both fresh."  
Takeru begins to seethe. "How can you talk to me like you're going to win!? You can barely stand! And why don't you stay DOWN!?" Takeru raised a leg, getting ready to stomp Natsu's head in. But before he could raise it any higher, a surge of lightning comes over him, temporarily paralyzing him. "Gah! I can't..move!"  
Natsu forces himself up to his feet as he lets out a low laugh. "Ehehe..."  
Laxus could do nothing but grin as he watched his lightning mage be used effectively. "That kid is so annoying."  
Upon reaching his feet, Natsu wobbled back and forth a bit, but then slammed his fists together,  
Reigniting his lightning flame mode that had seemingly died out after the blow he took from Takeru. "Iron fist..." Takeru's eyes widen, still unable to move. Natsu rears back as he slides to right under Takeru. "Of the Lightning Flame...Dragon!" Natsu swings a wild and heavy overhead punch, filled with lightning flame magic. The punch slams right under Takeru's right eye. The mage immediately goes flying backwards before hitting the ground. Sliding on his back, he finally comes to a stop, not moving.  
"...He's out." Arc says looking on. "That pink haired kid put everything he had into that one. There was no holding back from that punch."  
"So Fairy Tail wins!? I knew not to bet with Tobias! Pay me my jewels!" Kiora smirks as she folds her arms in satisfaction.  
"Oi! That bloke really let that Tak fellow have it eh?" Maggie looked on, almost impressed.  
"Love tap, love tap." Sora started singing as she called her hands together.  
"Well at least it's over." Mithril stated, standing behind all of them. Kiora jumped a bit as she turned to him. "Damn Mithril! I forgot your big ass was back there."  
Mithril ignores her comment as he stays glued to the screen.  
The mini lacrima screen appears again, this time hovering over Takeru for a few seconds.

You're so annoying."  
It was Natsu's turn to be in shock. Takeru makes his way up to one knee, holding a hand over his right eye, yet, blood could still be seen dripping from the right side of his hand, leaking through.  
"You're annoying...who would want to fight you? You try to defy laws. You don't know when to stop. You're brick headed. But... I can't complain. I'm the same way, so I'm told. But no matter how far we want to go Salamander..."  
Takeru begins to let his aura fluctuate once more. This time, no shaking happened as he was on his last leg, just like Natsu. "No matter how far we want to go...the truth is, even our souls have a limit." Takeru then concentrates all the magic he had left into his right fist. "Lets see who's limit is reached first."  
"I see where this is going. And I accept." Natsu does the same as Takeru, concentrating his remaining magic into his right fist. He then holds it by his side as he glares at Tak. "And by the way. My soul doesn't have a limit. My friends fuel it, and as long as their breathing, so will I."  
"Stop patronizing me with your speeches like I'm some helpless soul, you're really pissing me off! You think I don't know about family!? Those who share the same guild insignia as me...they're all I have. And they're all I need!" Upon finishing his statement, Takeru planted his back foot hard into the ground, and then took off towards Natsu Dragneel. Natsu does the same, bringing up a bit of the ground with him as he let out a yell, his arm cocked back behind his head. As they meet in the middle, Takeru and Natsu both slams their punches into each other. Both punches slam between their opponent's eyes. A massive shockwave was caused, as a huge crater formed under them, with a lone small pillar that they both stood on. For a few seconds no one moved, but then, both dragon slayers fall backwards into the crater they created. They both plummet to the bottom of the crater. Takeru landed face first as Natsu slammed down on his back.  
"Oh my god." Kairi covered her mouth in suspense, waiting for whatever would happen next.  
"Takeru.."  
"Natsu.." Selene and Lucy both look on, waiting.  
"Lucy! You shouldn't be up!" Levy said, but Lucy ignored her, too busy looking on. She made her way to the front of the group, waiting. "Come on Natsu."  
The lacrima screen floats around them both.  
"Ladies and gentlemen. It seems we have a double knockout, but since this is the last fight of the entire games, the first one to their feet and can stand in a stable manner will win it all for their guild.  
"Takeru get up right now!" Reve immediately stood, despite the pain he was in. He then yelled at the top of his lungs, not caring if Tak could here or not. "Get up! You're a standing position away from winning!"  
"Come on Tak!" Kairi and Heather shouted in unison.  
"You can do it..." Selene whispered as she clasped her hands together, watching with concern.  
"Natsu!" Happy screamed.  
"Come on Salamander! I've put you through worse!" Gajeel roared out. "You have to stand up!"  
"Natsu!" The rest of the guild begin to erupt in chants of the Salamander's name. All but Lucy, who just stares at the screen. She then throws her hand in the air, causing everyone in Fairy Tail to stop as she forms the Fairy Tail hand sign with her ascended hand. The rest of the guild follows her lead, holding their hands in the air as they watched.  
"Come on Tak.." Takeru's eyes flutter open as well as Natsu's. The shadow dragon slowly makes his way to his hands and knees, panting uncontrollably as he did so. Natsu rolls over to his stomach slowly. He too makes it to his palms and knees. He then slowly goes to one knee as he gasped for air. Shaky, Takeru was on his feet, but still had his hands on the ground, hunched over. His arms and legs both felt like jelly as he huffed out in frustration, trying to push himself up. Natsu continued huffing. On one knee he stayed.  
"Natsu's not making any progress!" Romeo cried out. Mirajane merely pats him on the shoulder with her free hand and smiled. Romeo looks up at her and blinks. He then nods as he kept his arm up, waiting for his hero to stand.  
Natsu forced himself up by his hands, now in a crouching stance, trying to force his jello like legs to straighten. Takeru on the other hand...Takeru bared his teeth as he yelled to himself. He then, in one motion, pushed himself off of his hands and stood up completely straight.  
"HE'S UP!" Reve roared as the rest of White Eclipse joined in, cheering for their guild mate. Selene smiled as Takeru gave out a roar of victory as he wobbled. He wobbled, and wobbled...Takeru then fell back over in a slow motion, landing on his back. White Eclipse went dead quiet as Natsu continued to push himself up slowly, finally making his way to his feet. The Salamander wobbled, and wobbled...then stopped. An X came over Takeru's face on the screen, then Natsu's face was enlarged as he, and Fairy Tail, were claimed the victors of the Grand Magic Games.  
"Natsu did it!" Romeo and the others begin to cheer joyously. Lucy merely gave a soft smile towards the screen. "I knew he would.."  
Everyone in White Eclipse was in complete shock. Half of them had their mouths covered while the other half looked on with shocked expressions.  
"He lost..."  
".../We/ lost.."  
"I can't..."  
No one could speak properly. They stared at the screen as if it was just a bad dream, while Fairy Tail continued to cheer. The crowd also joins in the uproar from the amazing fight they witnessed from start to end.

.  
"Pay up Tobias!" Ruika yelled as she gave a cut of the jewel and brownies to Sora, Maggie and Kiora.  
"...Tch. Technically he did stand first." Tobias scoffed as he tossed his jewel towards Ruika. She catches it and splits the rest with the other girls.  
"I knew not to bet with you. I'm so glad I didn't make that decision." Kiora ran her hands through the jewel as Daityas turned around.  
"Change of plans." The Hells flames demon slayer spoke, garnering everyone's attention. "We're gonna speed up the process of the lacrima we planted.  
"What's the rush mate?" Maggie asked, while counting her earnings.  
"I just want the vermin out of the way before they actually become a problem."  
"A problem?" Kiora laughed a bit. "No ones a problem for Tartaros. Except Tobias, but that's a different kind of problem."  
"I hate you."  
"I love you too you little shit."  
"Damn...shut up." Daityas ran his hand through his hair before he continued. "As I was saying. We're speeding up the process. We had a nice vacation, but it's time. So, who wants to attack Magnolia? I believe we have lacrima set there."  
Tobias was the first to raise his hand. "Me! I'll bring em down to there knees!"  
Kiora and magi then raise their hands at the same time, right behind Tobias. "Us! Us! We're the best team!" They yelled out in unison.  
"Well, first come first serve." Daityas says as he grins. "So Maggie and Kiora..."  
"Kiora and Maggie." Kiora coughed out.  
"You two will attack Magnolia in a few days. I want a vivid plan to how you're going to do it before you go."  
"Umm...I had my hand up first.." Tobias says, still waving his ascended hand.  
"Consider it done bossman!" Kiora said in a mocking tone, saluting Daityas in an animation fashion.  
"...right. Rugal, take us back home."  
Rugal conjures a light green magic circle, opening a portal as the Tartaros mages begin to sink into it. "Soon, Magnolia will suffer the wrath, of the Fatal Embodiment. Kiora is the name, shadows is my game. HA...haha! MWAHAHA!"  
"Kiora!"  
She immediately straightens up and gives a cough. "Sorry...got excited.

.

Takeru opens his eyes, upon waking up from his unconsciousness. After his vision comes to, he notices the entire guild around him as he sat up in the bed. "...Hey..."  
"How you feeling champ?" Zalen asked.  
"Like I've taken a hammer to the skull." He says as he holds his head, feeling the bandages around his skull.  
"Well, you don't have any real injuries." Zain told him. "But you should take it easy for just a bit." Zain then turns to Kairi. "That reminds me. Lets get that knee brace off of you Kairi. You should be good by now."  
"Right!" Kairi smiles as she happily walks over and hops on the counter for Zain to handle his business.  
Sidney pats Takeru on the shoulder, and then tugs his scarf as a sign of respect. "You did well Takeru. You're definitely our hero of this years games. Your soul is a determined one so keep your head up."  
Tak nodded, taking in the new respect that the SS class mage had for him. He then slides off the bed. "Whoa there." Selene says. "Don't you think you should relax?"  
Takeru shakes his head. "I'm okay. I'm just ready to go home."  
"Boy aren't we all!" Waiston yelled. "Hey Reve, we should train a bit earlier for next years Games right!?"  
"...Sorry, I won't be here to train."  
"What?"  
Reve looked up from the chair he was sitting in. The entire guild stared at him waiting for an explanation. "I've decided, to travel. I'm really slacking, and I basically cost us the tournament. So, I'm leaving for a while. Starting today."  
"...I'm going with you." Zalen says as he looks for his bag.  
"No...I'm going alone. Sorry Zalen but I need this."  
"But...! Taya aren't you gonna say anything?!"  
Tayakata merely crosses her arms, keeping her eyes away from Reve as he stands.  
"I'm about to leave in a few minutes. You guys be safe. Takeru..." Reve looks over at the bandaged dragon slayer. "Great fight man. You really outdid me. And I'm proud of you."  
Acknowledging, Takeru doesn't say anything as he begins to watch Reve walk out of the room with his bag over his shoulder, and his hand holding up a W until he disappeared.  
"Reve..."

.

In the crowd of Fairies, Romeo and Wendy were held up high by their hands as Jason took a picture of the two kids holding the trophy by their handles. There was nothing but smiles all around as the continued to celebrate in the middle of the arena.  
"You're amazing Natsu!" Romeo says as he hugs his mentor.  
"Ehe..I can't do it without you guys." The humble dragon slayer rubs the back of his head as he laughs with Romeo.  
"So no party this time huh?" Lucy asked as she looked at Erza.  
"Siegrain has really shut everything down. It's a shock that he allowed the games to finish, even though he shortened them. Anyways. Lets not let him ruin our celebration."  
"Back to back titles!" Gray yelled as he appeared shirtless.  
"Gray-Sama!" Juvia hugged around the shirtless mage, but Gray was too pumped and happy for the win to even notice.  
"Their amazing you know." Mirajane stated as she stood with Laxus off to the side.  
"You had a big part too. Don't forget that." Laxus added. "We all did." She turns and smiles at Laxus as he does the same, giving a small smirk.  
"Alright brats! Since there's no celebration here this year! Everyone is invited to Fairy Tail for drinks! Lets go!" Makarov shouted as he leaped in the air. The picture Jason took now covered the newest issue of Sorcière Weekly. The title simply stated, "Defending champs once again."

.  
"I can't believe he left..." Zalen sat on the right side of the second carriage as they made their way back home. It took three to carry the entire guild back home.  
"It takes a coward to leave.." Taya says as she continues looking out to the snow behind the carriage as the neared White Eclipse.  
"Don't say that! He...had a reason."  
"And what was that Zalen? A loss? That's not a reason to leave. But whatever. I don't care anyways."  
Nami sighed as she looked at her sister. "Lets just all relax once we get home. I hear hot springs calling our names."  
The carriage comes to a stop as they all hop out. Nami stretches out with her eyes closed as she was the first one out the second carriage. She then walked forward, opening her eyes. What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks  
"Oh...no..." From the first carriage, Takeru, Selene, Kuro, Kairi, Waiston and Skye were already in front of the burned down guild. The others join them as they all stared at what no longer existed.  
"The guild..." Skye whimpered.  
"Did...we leave something on?" Kairi asked.  
"No..." Kuro walked towards the guild's ashes. He walked "inside" of what was left as he made his way to where his room was. "I know what happened.." He whispered to himself. Entering to where his room used to be, he walked over to where his nightstand used to be, and began to dig.  
"Well... Whatever happened.. We can't stay here tonight. Lets go get a hotel in Magnolia until we can rebuild.."  
Taya stood there. She knew along with Kuro exactly what happened. "Taya..Kuro...come on." Calium called out.  
After a bit of digging, Kuro picked up what was left of his picture. The picture he kept ever since he was a kid. He looked at it, and all that was left, was him. His mentor, Mary was completely burned off of the picture. "I'll catch up later." Kuro stated.  
"Daityas.." Taya murmured under her breath. Nami then pulled on her shoulder. "Lets go.."  
"Kuro.."  
"I said I'll catch up.."  
Kuro kept looking at the picture as everyone finally left.

"I'm sorry...

He'll pay for this.."


	46. Chapter 46

White Eclipse  
Chapter 46

A few hours before dawn. Taya sat out on the balcony as she looked up at the night sky. Crossing her arms , she watched the moon slowly descend towards the horizon. "Idiot..." She huffed as she pulled her knees to her chest. Nami walks in, rubbing her eye. "Taya? You're up early.."  
She doesn't say anything, just merely shrugs.  
"I know you're upset at Reve but-"  
"I could careless what Reve does, so don't start with that. All I care about is about your safety, and now the guild. That's my only two priorities."  
Nami looks at her for a bit, and then takes the seat across from her. "..Right. You're bad at hiding how you feel though. At least to me."  
"Well you are my sister Nami. And I'm not hiding anything, it's what I meant. Reve could not come back for all I care. It's his choice."  
"You don't mean that Taya."  
"Try me."  
Nami sighs a bit, and then stands back from her seat. "I rather not. I just wanted to check on you because I knew you weren't sleeping. Try to get some rest, big sister. Oh! By the way, did you see Kuro come in?"  
Taya shook her head. "He probably fell asleep beside his mentor's grave again or something. You know how he is when bad things happen."  
"Yeah.." Nami smiles a bit, and then turns back to walk inside the hotel room, out of Taya's sight.  
Taya then began to think to herself. "I'll never sleep again, knowing that Tartaros is active. I have to do something. It's me they're after.."  
Taya looked back to see if Nami had disappeared. Seeing that coast is clear, Taya quickly leaped over the balcony, landing on the ground. She then made a bee line out of Magnolia, heading to the area where she last ran into Daityas.

.  
"I'm still wondering why the process speed up." Mithril says as he walks down the hallway with Rugal.  
"Same here. Not that I mind. But I guess Daityas actually finds those fairies a threat. Which makes no sense. Anyone of us could demolish that entire guild alone. Especially you, Mr. Lightning Dragon."  
"You're too kind." Mithril grins as they enter the main room. Inside, Daityas was sitting at a table with Kiora and Maggie across from him with giddy faces on.  
"Okay, we know you said give it a couple days but.."  
"We couldn't wait!" Kiora interrupted. "We already have a basic, yet fun way to demolish the city and to let the lacrima flourish faster."  
Daityas looked at them both skeptically. "Oh you do? In that short of time? Planning takes a good amount of time you know. Do you really believe you have a full proof plan that will help you succeed?"  
Kiora rolls her eyes as Maggie speaks. "Just because we didn't lock ourselves in our room for fifty hours doesn't mean that our idea isn't good. Geez."  
Daityas sighed. "You know what, I don't even wanna know the plan. Surprise me. Show me what 'the best team' is capable of. Just make sure magnolia is down and out. It holds the biggest lacrima."  
"Yeah yeah." Kiora waves in a dismissive manner. Now ignoring Daityas' presence altogether, Kiora shoves Maggie as she hops around. "YOU READY!?"  
Maggie shoved Kiora back, getting pumped. "I'M READY! YOU READY!?"  
"I'M READY! MAGNOLIA AINT READY!"  
Rugal looks on with a puzzled look at the two mages hopping around. "What is wrong with you two?"  
"Shut your stupid frickin face Rugal!" Kiora yelled, pointing at the light green haired mage. Rugal merely shook his head as Kiora and Maggie hop out of the room screaming "Tomorrow!"  
Rugal and Mithril then turn back to and walk towards Daityas. Dait sighs a bit in annoyance. "And what do you two want?"  
"We're just here to deliver Sora's reconnaissance. Poor thing was tired and went straight to bed." Rugal then turns to Mithril, notifying that he would give the news.  
"Well?" Daityas asked.  
Mithril cleared his throat.  
"You may be right about Siegrain. Sora infiltrated the council headquarters, with ease of course, and heard them talking about gathering not only the strongest mages, but every mage from each guild for an 'important job.' He didn't say what, but it's pretty obvious."  
Daityas stayed quiet for a bit. He then gives a small smirk and chuckled. "That fool doesn't know who he's dealing with. He's the pawn here, not us. If he wants to lie to my face, and then try to stop us then be my guest. It's the idiot's funeral. When Sora wakes up tell her to find me. I have another job for her that requires her to head back to the Council Headquarters." Daityas stands from his seat, walking by Rugal and Mithril. "You two should call it a morning as well."  
"No problem." Rugal bowed and then they both exit behind Daityas, all going separate ways inside the castle hallways.  
Daityas walks down the hallways alone as he makes his way to his room.  
"Siegrain. You want to play this game huh? Thinking you can send all of Fiore after us? You're just making my job a lot more fun. I'll burn you all to ashes. And I'll make you watch as the country you wish to rule slowly fades into a nonexistent landmark. Only memories of what it used to be, carried by no one."  
As Daityas neared his door, he grabs the doorknob but stops. His ears perk up. Someone was calling for him, and it wasn't a pleasant call.  
"Hm? Wait.." The demon slayer grins. "I know that voice from anywhere. I can't believe he's dumb enough to look for me."  
Standing on a grassy plain, the same place where Taya was attacked; the same place where He and Daityas trained him for the games, was Kuro. He was seething in blind anger as he continued yelling. "Daityas! Come out! I know it was you! Don't be a coward!"  
Appearing out of the small forest to Kuro's right, Daityas walked towards him with a smug look on his face. "Whoa whoa now. Quiet down before you wake everyone. We didn't get much sleep last night."  
Kuro growled, baring his teeth as he clenched his fists. "You burned my home down! You destroyed our guild didn't you!?"  
Daityas paints on a not so convincing surprised expression. The sarcasm pouring out of him. "What!? Your guild was burned down!? That's tragic Kuro. Tell ya what, if you join my guild, you'll have a place to stay. Things like that never happen...in Tartaros!"  
Kuro's heart sunk. "I figured you were still part of Tartaros, but I just wanted to believe you.."  
"Part of Tartaros? No no kid. I am Tartaros. But you came here for retribution right!?" Daityas spreads his stance a bit as he grins, taunting Kuro to attack him. "Come on, pay me back for that picture of your weak little mentor that a burned to a crisp."  
Kuro's eyes widened at the mention of Mary. "I'll kill you.."  
"Ooo! That's not Kuro style of language. Come on Fire Make! Show me what I've taught you!"

.  
The streets of Magnolia. Outside of Lucy's apartment, familiar celestial mage stands outside in the shadows. On her shoulder, was a small devil like spirit. She scratches the little devil's head as it smiles from the pleasure. "You ready? I need you to get the key we talked about. Before lava girl and Kiora destroy this town. So you gotta make this count. As she spoke, she lifted up her own key ring. On the ring were her own set of keys, and an extra one. She pulled of the newest addition to her collection as she marveled at it. "Just like how you crept inside that other girl's place and took Ophiuchus. Run in there, she's that window right there, and grab me the gate of the lion. Okay Devillo?"  
The little devil nodded, and then hopped off of Ruika's shoulders as it ran towards the apartment. Ruika leaned against a building wall, waiting as she admired the stolen key in her hand. "I'm sure there's something in the book of Zeref that allows you to take control of someone else's property. He is Zeref after all."  
Ruika watches as Devillo makes it to the door of the apartment. The little devil then takes out his pitchfork and creates a small magic seal, causing him to levitate up to Lucy's window. Like an agent on a mission, Devillo puts his back against the wall as he slowly peers around into the room, seeing nothing but a dark room. He then takes his pitchfork, and summons another magic seal inside the room on the window lock, causing it to unlock from the inside. Devillo slowly opens the window and creeps inside. Standing on the window sill, the creepy little spirit looks around, searching for Lucy's keys. After scanning the room, he spots the bundle of keys laying on the desk. He quietly makes his way to the desk by leaping onto it, softly landing. He looks over at the sleeping Lucy to see if he's awaken her. She was still fast asleep, so Devillo makes his way to the keys quietly. Upon reaching them, he looks for Loke's celestial key without touching the ring. There it was, right in the middle of the others, and the opening to the key ring was on the other side of the keys. Face-palming, Devillo slowly picks up the key ring and begins to carefully slide them around until he reached Loke's key. He attempts to drag the key around to the opening, but it slips through his fingers and clangs against the other keys. This causes Lucy to stir in her sleep. Devillo doesn't move, waiting for her to finish moving just to make sure. After she finally stopped, Devillo tries again, this time succeeding as he carefully puts the key ring back down and dashes to the window. He quietly closes the window behind him and the jumps down to the street, running back to Ruika as she walks out of the shadows of the building on the other side of the street. She stifles a squeal as she marvels at Loke's key. She then pats Devillo on the head as he climbs back to her shoulders. "You never let me down Devillo. Batto needs to take lessons from you I swear. It's been real Magnolia. See you never." Ruika then begins walking out of the city as she laughs to herself and Devillo.

.  
"Don't tell me you're scared of your mentor?" Daityas stayed in his stance, grinning towards Kuro who was still seething in anger, anxious to get his hands on the demon slayer.  
"You're not my mentor. You're a liar and a fake." Kuro then slaps his palms together. "Fire Make: Knuckles!" Kuro then rushes Daityas and slams a right haymaker to his jaw. Daityas head snaps to the side, but he doesn't move anything else. Unphased, Daityas then slowly turns back to Kuro with a sadistic grin on his face. "Wow...I guess training didn't pay off." He laughed as the Hell fire mage slammed a headbutt against the skull of Kuro, causing him to violently hit the ground, creating a small crater as well. Daityas then digs his foot under Kuro's stomach that was pressed against the earth, and kicks him up out of the crater. Kuro goes crashing and rolling into the ground before he forced himself to a stop. He held his ribs, but as he touched them, he immediately winced in severe pain. "Are..."  
"I wouldn't be surprised." Daityas interrupts. "You know, if your ribs are broken from that kick. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. Sometimes I do know but just don't give a damn." Daityas lets out an evil laugh as Kuro slowly makes his way to his feet, wobbling.  
"Oh? You stand? That means you want more. Well here, I'll just wrap this bullshit of an attempt for revenge up quickly."  
"I only have one shot at this...and it's gonna cost me everything..." As Daityas began walking towards him, Kuro but his arms out in front of him in an X formation. His aura begins to rise.  
"Daityas continues to smirk as he stalked towards Kuro, until a bunch of dark vectors catch his eye at the last second. He quickly covers up as they all slam into him, barely moving him out of his spot. This caused Kuro to drop his arms as he looked around. "Taya?"  
"Tayakata? No need for cheap shots Tayakata! Come on out!"  
As Daityas yelled, a black magic circle appeared under his feet, causing more dark vectors to shoot up and slam into Daityas. He blocks the first few and then leaps into the air away from the rest.  
"Gotcha." Taya appears above Daityas, riding on a dark vector. She then jumps off and swings an axe kick to the top of Daityas head. Daityas nonchalantly catches her leg before it connects however. And throws her to the ground, causing her to crash into the earth. Tayakata struggles, but quickly makes her way to her feet as she holds her right arm in pain. Daityas lands on the ground shortly after, now grinning at the both of them. "Oh boy, what a surprise. My two favorite people. The runaway and the traitor. What's funny about that is, Taya could be both. I planned on killing you both anyways."  
"Kuro, run." Taya slid into a fighting stance as she barked at Kuro.  
"Fat chance. He's gonna pay for what he did."  
"Kuro don't be an idiot, he's too strong. And you use his element. You don't stand a chance."  
"I stand one..." Kuro then runs towards Daityas.  
"Kuro what did I say!?" Taya yelled out, causing Kuro to stop right in front of Taya. Kuro then turns to Taya with a smile as he slams his palms together. A quick rumble happens as Kuro quickly gathers most of his magic and concentrates it into his next move. "Sorry Taya, but I have to do this since it's my fault. Fire make: Wall!"  
Kuro spreads his hands out, creating a giant wall of flames that seemingly went on forever in both height and length. Taya shielded herself from the bright flames but then opened her eyes, widening them as she looked at Kuro and Daityas on the other side.  
"Kuro!" She yelled out. But Kuro chose to ignore Taya's cries as he stared at Daityas.  
"I know I can't beat you. At least not without a sacrifice..."  
"A sacrifice?" Daityas cocked a brow in confusion. "What sacrifice?"  
Taya however stood in shock a bit. "Kuro no! Don't you dare!"  
Kuro took a deep breath as the intrigued Daityas stood waiting. "I want to see this sacrifice that's supposed to kill me."  
Kuro put his arms back out in front of him, crossing them in an X formation. What remained of his red magic aura began to flare out everywhere as a twin spiral of flames began to circle around him as the flowed endlessly into the air.  
"Okay, your little fire show is boring me." Daityas was about to move, but before he could, the same style of spiral flames began to circle around him and into the air. "Huh?! And this is what now? I didn't teach you this?"  
"No...my mentor did..."  
[Flashback]  
At the peak of one of the twelve mountains around White Eclipse, Kuro, Waiston, Reve and Jack all run, trying to make their way down the mountain side. Kuro stops and then turns back around. "Kuro!" Reve yelled out as he too ran after the fire make kid. "What are you doing!?"  
"I can't leave her again!" Kuro yelled as he ran into the heavy blizzard.  
"Kuro stop you dummy!" Waiston and Jack also run behind Reve who was giving chase to Kuro Crane.  
"Kuro! Kuro! Can you see anything Waiston?" Reve asked as he shielded his eyes from the blizzard.  
"Nothing yet." The ice dragon slayer yelled back. The three kept walking forward until Jack finally spotted Kuro, who was sitting behind a standing Mary. In front of them both, was a giant Wyvern. The Wyvern let out a massive roar, cornering both Mary and Kuro against a well sized rock formation against the mountain peak. "Didn't I tell you to run you brats?" Mary gave them all a stern look, then quickly shielded herself as the Wyvern let out another roar.  
"We were! Kuro turned around!" Reve yelled, trying to explain the situation.  
"Just go!" As Mary yelled towards the three brats, Kuro tried to make a break for Reve and the others as well, but caught the Wyvern's attention. The giant winged beast then turned and began chasing after Kuro who had just tripped and fell into the snow.  
"Crap!" Reve, Jack and Waiston watched helplessly as the Wyvern stalked towards the fallen Kuro.  
"Kuro!" Mary charges the Wyvern from behind with her fire make knuckles. The Wyvern easily swatted her away with it's tail, causing her to go crashing into the snow. While the Wyvern was distracted, Waiston was helping Kuro up, but the distraction didn't last long as the Wyvern let out another roar, scaring the two boys into a paralytic state.  
"Do something toy soldier!" Jack yelled at Reve, not taking his eyes off of him. Reve doesn't even answer. Instead he stares up at the abnormally large Wyvern in fear.  
The Wyvern rears it's head back a bit, ready to devour Waiston and Kuro from the ground. Before it could move forward, a twin spiral of flames surrounds it.  
Reve looks up as he and Jack pull Waiston and Kuro up and away from the Wyvern. "Mary's got it!"  
"Huh?" Kuro looks up to see what was happening. He then looks over at Mary to see the same two spirals surround her, then immediately tries to pull away from Reve. "Mary!"  
"Kuro stop! She's handling it!"  
"She's killing herself!"  
Reve stood confused at Kuro's last outburst but still held on as Kuro tried to struggle out of his grasp.  
The Wyvern continued to let out a roar, but it's body didn't move as Mary stood a ways away from it with her arms out in front, shaped like an X.  
"Mary don't!"  
"Flamed shell!"  
The two spirals around the Wyvern then quickly collapse around the beast, smothering it in now a giant orb of flames. The orb continues to shrink and shrink, compacting the Wyvern into nothing.  
"It's gone..." Jack looks on, astounded as he lets go of Waiston.  
"That was a giant Wyvern..I didn't know they came that big." Waiston added.  
Kuro finally kicked away from Reve as he ran towards Mary, who still had the flames rising around her. "Mary!"  
Kuro ran up to in front of his mentor, as close as he could without getting burned by the flames surrounding her. She returns a soft smile. "Sorry, kiddo. But it was either you or me. And I couldn't live with myself anyways if it was you. I want you to be strong okay? I'm not your only family anymore. They'll take care of you."  
"But.." Tears began to stream down the cheeks of Kuro as he looked up at the eyes of Mary Crane. "Don't leave..."  
Her smile grows a bit as her feet begin to turn into ashes. Ashes that immediately blow away within the blizzard's wind. "Sorry, now stop crying. You have a lot of growing up to do. And Reve, Sidney, Jack, old man Calium, they're gonna help you do it okay? I've taught you all I could anyways. It's time for you to practice what you've learned." By this time, up to her waist has turned to ashes and blown away. "Try not to be so annoying either. Crying all the time."  
"Stop being mean when you're about to leave me." Kuro wipes the tears off his face, only to have more replace them. Mary laughs a bit as the ashes reach her shoulder.  
"Bye squirt. Thanks for everything."  
As she finished her sentence, she completely vanished. Not a trace of ash was left as the blizzard's wind swept everything away.  
"Mary...MARY!"  
[End Flashback.]  
"She sacrificed herself so I could live to grow with my family. But if I let you live, they'll be more people in danger."  
"Kuro don't you do it!" Taya watched helplessly as the fire make mage shouted. "Flamed shell!"  
Just then, the two spirals of flames collapse onto Daityas, creating a hollow orb of flames around him. The orb slowly collapses onto Daityas, slowly shrinking with Daityas trapped inside. "You're gonna regret this you brat!" Daityas yelled out as he tried to push against the orb, but to no avail. He struggles and struggles until...the orb and Daityas disappears.  
"He's gone..." Taya then turns back to Kuro, waiting for the tragedy that came next. Kuro's fire wall disperses and Taya quickly runs up to him. "Kuro! I...I'm sorry.."  
"Don't be...he needed to be stop. He's too strong. I'm just glad I could help. Tell everyone I'm sorry."  
As he spoke, his feet begin to turn into ashes, just like Mary's as the wind sweeps them away.  
"Don't talk like that! We can fix this! There has to be a way!" Taya looks around frantically, grabbing her own head in frustration.  
Kuro smiles a bit as he laughs. "I'm sorry for not listening Taya. But I guess this is fair punishment right?"  
"No..you don't deserve this. You don't Kuro.."  
Kuro looks up to the sky as the ashes reach to his sternum. "Whenever Reve comes back, tell him I don't hate him. And my noodles are up for grabs."  
"Stop it!"  
Kuro turns his head to Tayakata and smiles from ear to ear as the ashes make their way to his neck. "Bye Taya. Be safe, and remember that you're not one of them." As he finished so did the ashes, as the wind blows Kuro away, scattering the ashes in each direction until they disappeared.  
"K-Kuro..." Taya falls to her knees as she sobs. "First Arc... Now-"  
"You know what's worse than sad endings?"  
Taya's eyes widen in absolute fear as Daityas's voice echoes from nowhere.  
"Sad endings that had a failed purpose."  
From the exact spot where he disappeared, a small orb of fire was seen being formed from thin air. It continues to grow until it was large enough to fit a person inside. An inhaling sound was then heard as the orb caved in on itself. Out from the flamed shell, was an unharmed Daityas. "Man, talk about close calls right?" The demon began laughing as Taya stayed on her knees in shock. "Now..where was I?" Before Daityas took a step forward, he noticed the sun coming over the horizon. "Hm..it seems you survive another day Tayakata.. I have plans I'm already behind on because I wasted my time with you cretins. Till next time."  
Daityas then trudges back into the forest as if nothing happened, leaving Taya alone as she mourned over the loss of Kuro Crane.

.

"So why were we called here exactly? And so early?" Erza asked as she folded her arms. Standing next to her inside of the magic council headquarters was Gray, Bacchus, Kagura, Sting, Ichiya, Lyon and Sidney. Escort it them was a tall man with a goatee and black medium length but well kept hair. He was second captain Odin.  
"Sir Siegrain will explain as soon as we reach the debriefing room." The captain kept his words short and sweet as they continued down the hallways. Sting followed in the middle, and turned to the few council guards escorting and talking to young children as they marched down hallways. "What are they doing?"  
Odin glanced over to acknowledge what Sting was talking about. "That, is our youth program, for any kid that believe he or she wants to be a council guard or captain when they're older."  
"You said that like it's not weird." Bacchus says as he grins at his own comment. He then noticed a kid he's seen before. The girl had black hair and brown eyes.  
"Hey, Erza. Isn't that the girl we and Kagura saved from the Wyverns?"  
Erza and Kagura turn to look. "Hey that is her. I guess she's been inspired to be a council guard when she's older." Erza smirks a bit as she looks at the young girl in line with the other kids.  
"That's funny." Gray chimes in. "She kinda looks like the girl I sat next to in the hospital. Except she had brown hair."  
Gray then squints his eyes. "No wait, yeah...that looks exactly like her."  
"Anyways!" Captain Odin interrupted. "We're here." Odin opens the door to a room. Sitting down on the other side of a long table, was Seigrain. Beside him standing, was Ultear and Correll.  
"Ultear, you're looking well." Bacchus commented. "Back to standing beside the phonies side once again huh?"  
Correll immediately fires back. "What did you say!? Watch how you speak of Seigrain Senpai."  
"Senpai!?" Bacchus roars in laughter. "Wow. Only a few days and your lips are already attached to his-"  
"Enough." Seigrain cuts them both off. Correll stays glaring at Bacchus as Ultear hands Seigrain a file. "We have bigger problems than Bacchus small wit."  
"We're in your territory so I'll let that one slide."  
Siegrain opens the file and then spreads out photos. The photos show pictures of the Tartaros mages.  
"I got these from one of my undercover sources. These, are the mages of Tartaros. The most dangerous dark guild ever. They've been spotted, which means they're active. We have no idea what they're planning, but it's up to you and your guilds to stop any if you see them."  
They all examine the pictures laid out on the table. Gray spots one that stands out. He squints and lifts a picture of a little girl with pink hair. It was Sora. "This girl... She looks just like..."  
Odin snatches the picture out of Grays hand, throwing off his concentration and train of thought. "Don't lift the photo, let everyone else see too."  
"I can have copies made if you all need them." Siegrain commented. It /will/ take an effort from all of you and your guilds."  
"And what happens if we fail?" Lyon asked.  
"Then Fiore fails. Each mage we're told, has the lone ability to destroy nearly all of Fiore on their own. We don't want that now do we? I have my best men on the case as well. You can see how serious this is if I'm taking time out of my day to personally give you all this mission."  
"I'm sure you're plenty busy." Kagura nodded. "With all your plots to destroy us on your own."  
Siegrain chuckled. "Meanwhile. We will send copies to your guild halls when we can. Thank you for your time. Odin will walk you out again."  
As they all begin leaving, Gray turns back to the picture of the little girl one last time. "She looks so familiar.."  
Down the hallway, the black haired girl sneaks away from the group. Quickly, she slides into a nearby unused closet. As she enters, nothing was inside but old cobwebs and dusts. In the corner, the black haired girl crouched as she pulled out a shining blue stone like fragment out of her pocket. She then pushed the lacrima into the corner, and covered it back up with the excess dust. The lacrima entered the walks of the headquarters and now laid there as the inside of the walls slowly turned into lacrima, unseen to the naked eye." The black hair the girl wore then slowly turns back to pink as she giggles. Seeping into her own shadow, Sora then disappears.

.

Outside of the hotel, Jack stretches out, holding a bottle of alcohol in his hands. He then looks both ways before he begins his public drinking. He then looks over as he hears a loud shriek. Down the street, he notices the pink haired Dragon slayer literally being kicked out of Lucy's apartment. "Oh..that's not good. We would get a hotel close to them. Oh well!" Jack resumes drinking from is bottle.  
"Hey!" Jack chokes for a second as he was startled. He puts the bottle down to see Natsu and Happy in front of him.  
"Salamander..."  
"What are you doing here so early? In front of a hotel?" Natsu asked.  
"None of your business really. But the whole guild is here really."  
"Oh.." Natsu blinked, but doesn't question why they were here when their guild was just up the mountains. "Well, I didn't get to see him, but tell Takeru that I really enjoyed our fight. And anytime he wants another-"  
"You don't get it do you?" Jack interrupted. "This isn't a game. Not to them. These kids hate you. They hate anyone better than them. Me personally, I couldn't care less. But Takeru, Luke, Selene, Kairi. You didn't earn respect from them through battle or anything. They hate you all. And they'll continue to until they prove that they're better than you. So until they're the ones holding up a Grand Magic Games trophy, you can forget about any friendlies going on Salamander."  
Natsu nods at the harsh reality. "Shame..."  
"Call it what you want. But it's the White Eclipse way." Jack shrugs as he takes another swig of his bottle.

.  
Upon a hill overlooking Magnolia they stood. Just miles away from the city, Kiora and Maggie stood at the top of the giant hill.  
"I'm so bloody giddy to start." Maggie says as she cracks her knuckles.  
"Me too yo. Lets do this!"  
"Lets go!"  
"Yeah!"  
"Right now!"  
"Okay!"  
"I'm nervous..."  
Maggie slaps Kiora across the face.  
"...alright I'm not nervous anymore."  
"Right." Maggie conjures up a giant red magic seal from in front of her. Just then, the area begins to shake as the ground beneath her cracks open. From the massive cracks in the ground, a giant wall of lava rises methodically, nearly reaching the sky.  
Still outside the inn, Jack and Natsu wobble, feeling quakes of the Earth.  
"What is that!?" Natsu yelled out.  
Kairi runs outside and looks over the balcony. "Jack!"  
"It's not me I swear!" Jack replies as he holds on to the wall.  
"Then what is-" Kairi stops in mid sentence as everyone from White Eclipse looks up in awe. A giant tsunami of lava slowly makes it's way towards Magnolia. In front of the tsunami of lava, a giant three headed dog, completely black could be seen charging towards the town. Kiora was seen riding the dog she named Cerberus as she placed her fist into her other palm. From her position, a long way away, four well sized and powerful lances made of shadows traveled towards Magnolia at a tremendous speed. The lances slam into the building closest to her, still miles away. On impact, the building completely collapses. An uproar of screams were heard as this happened.  
"What the hell is going on!?" Jack watched in awe as Natsu immediately takes off. Happy flies to get Lucy. Takeru jumps out the window, leaping forward, he lands beside Natsu as he begins sprinting as well.  
"Takeru.."  
"Don't talk to me Salamander. Lets just do this."

In a dead sprint they head out of the city as they attempted to meet Kiora head on.

"I'm gonna go help Takeru." Selene says as she hops down from the balcony.  
"Me too." Kairi does the same.  
"Wait Selene." Jack says as he grabs her arm. "We have a more important job. We need to stop that lava flow. They can handle whoever is attacking."  
"...Okay. Lets go then."  
"Adam, and Zalen!" Jack yells.  
"I'm here."  
"Here!"  
"Okay, you three follow me! Everyone else, get the towns people out!

We don't have much time!"


	47. Chapter 47

White Eclipse  
Chapter 47

Erza, Gray, Sidney, Bacchus, Kagura, Lyon, Ichiya, they all stood outside after being escorted out of the council headquarters.  
Erza folds her arms once again as she sighs a bit. "When's the last time we had a break?"  
"Yesterday." Sidney answered abruptly. "Or at least I did."  
"Sorry, that was more of a rhetorical question, Sidney."  
"A question is a question, and they all need answers."  
"Hey! Anyways, so Tartaros right?" Bacchus chimed in. "The strongest dark guild. Must be a huge deal if the underhanded Siegrain called on us."  
"Lets not...count him out so fast." Erza replies, averting her eyes to the ground. "Maybe he's not the same Siegrain as before."  
"Erza, you aren't serious?" Kagura asked. Erza merely shrugs as she hides her face within her hair. "I've been around Jellal longer than anyone. I know him, and Siegrain, though he's different, seems to have the same motives and slightly similar character."  
Lyon merely shakes his head. "Back to important matters."  
"Of course! The parfum of terror is upon us! We must keep our eyes out for these mages!" Ichiya stated as he struck a pose. "Of course the Trimen are all in!"  
"Those clowns.. If they're in, we can't have any women join us or they'll be distracted." Gray says as he huffs out his annoyance. "But in the meantime I guess we should-"  
Before Gray could finish his sentence, a group of council guards rush by them in a hurry!  
"I wonder what the rush is?" Lyon questions as one of the council guards stop to catch his breath. He then turns to the group of mages with a panicked look on his face.  
"Magnolia...! Under attack..! Huge lava...!"  
"What!? Slow down. Regain yourself first."  
The council guard takes Erza's advice, and gathers his breath and thoughts before speaking.  
"Two Tartaros mages have been spotted miles outside of Magnolia! On top of that, one of them summoned a huge tsunami of lava and it's slowly moving towards the city!"  
"That's good enough for me!" Bacchus yells as he immediately takes off towards Magnolia.  
"Can we beat it there if we go by foot?" Erza asked after seeing Bacchus take off without knowing the information.  
"I think so. The tsunami is really slow, but extremely tall and wide. It's going to wipe all of Magnolia away."  
"Alright, we're on the way now. You can leave."  
Erza and the others take off into a full sprint behind Bacchus. Sidney using his magic to disappear in a white puff of smoke to appear miles ahead.

.  
Five miles until impact. After arriving with the rest of Fairy Tail, Juvia stood in a good couple of yards in front of the incoming tsunami.  
"Juvia will stop this with her water magic. And then Gray-Sama will see her as his hero."  
As the tsunami inches closer, Juvia summons a magic seal as she firmly plants her feet into the ground. "Water Nebula!" Throwing her hands forward, Juvia fires two powerful streams of water into the incoming wave of lava. She kept firing, yet it had no effect. Her water merely turned into stream on impact. Juvia stepped back in surprise. "Juvia's water has no effect!? This magic is..."  
"Juvia!" From above, on a cloud he created, the green haired weather mage swoops down with his arm out. Juvia grabs it as Jaxon pulls her up onto the cloud and away from the incoming lava.  
"Thanks...Jaxon-San."  
"It's no big deal." Jaxon stands as he grabs her hand, taking Juvia by surprise a bit. He then smiles. "Now. I heard you can make it rain. Mind helping me out?"  
Staring a bit longer at her disposition, she nods as she grips his hand a bit more. "Yeah."  
Holding hands, a mixture of blue and green become a magic seal as dark clouds quickly cover the sky. Following after, was a heavy rainfall, to near flooding type depth. Though it rained like no tomorrow, the lava tsunami was still as strong as ever. The rain was having no effect.  
"Darn it!" I thought that would work. I hope Jack has a plan then..."

Giving chase to Kiora now, who was still riding on her shadow created three headed dog Cerberus, was Takeru, and Natsu. In the air, was Kairi in her favorite angel taker over and a Satan Soul Mirajane.  
"You know, this is a kinda uneasy feeling." Mirajane says as she smiles. "An angel and a demon sharing the air together.  
Kairi huffs. "Believe me I know. Demons shouldn't be allowed to fly in the skies anyways. This is where angels prosper."  
Mirajane acknowledges but doesn't reply to Kairi's comment. Instead, catching up to Kiora, the split to each side of the Tartaros mage. Kairi ended up on Kiora's right as Mirajane appeared on her left,  
Both flying low next to the running Cerberus as it made it's way towards Magnolia.  
"If you think we're letting you ruin this city!" Kairi shouts as she holds out her right palm, firing off a multitude of air bullets towards Kiora and Cerberus. The three headed shadow dog easily dodged them all, no matter how fast they came in, and without losing momentum. Kiora began laughing as he did so. "That's cute angel wings, but you don't know who you're messing with.  
"Evil explosion!" Mirajane fired off a beam of negative magic towards the "distracted" Kiora. Cerberus leaps into the air to dodge the attack. Kiora then turns a bit as she smirks. Kiora then puts her fist into an open palm sideways as a bunch of black magic circles appear in the air; too many to count. She doesn't say a word, but in her mind she recites "shadow make: Meteors!"  
From the countless magic seals in the air, pure black meteor shaped blasts fall from the sky by the dozens. They were all aimed for the demon and angel. Kairi and Mirajane both began dodging, still slightly in a panic, barely keeping up with the meteors. As the meteors pick up, Mirajane and Kairi both swerve to the inside, causing them to crash into each other as they both come to a painful crash landing, tumbling into the ground. What made matters worse was the rest of the meteors, which fortunately for them was not a lot remaining, came crashing into them.  
"Clowns. I'm the real demon and angel. Just look at this face and my demeanor."  
Gloating, Kiora distracted herself long enough for Takeru to appear from Cerberus's shadow. He then plants his feet into the ground as he plants his hands between the three heads of the hound. Cerberus kept trucking along, causing Takeru's feet to go sliding into the ground but after a few yards, Cerberus began to slow down. Kiora flips off of Cerberus and lands behind Takeru, putting a fist back into her open palm. "Die, you burden."  
Before she could fire, Natsu quickly caught her attention. She dodges an incoming fiery right straight that she saw coming with in her peripherals. Everything slowed down as she leaned away from the punch. Her and Natsu now look eye to eye as she grins. Natsu's momentum still carried him. "Sorry kid, I invented the blind side."  
With her fist still in her palm she once again didn't say anything out loud. In her mind however. "Shadow make: claws!" And from the magic seal that quickly appeared under Natsu's feet, a bunch of shadow made claws spring high up into the air, grabbing Natsu and bringing him up with them. Holding onto Natsu, the claws quickly descend at a tremendous speed, slamming Natsu into the ground and then some.  
"Dammit Salamander!" Takeru looked back at Natsu being slammed into the ground. That was all Cerberus needed as the right head of the three headed dog crunches on Takeru's opposing shoulder, causing Takeru to grunt in pain and wince. This also threw Takeru off balance as the beast of a dog took it's front right paw and slammed it against Takeru's chest, pinning him violently against the ground.  
"Ah man... This is such a drag. I don't wanna walk to Magnolia. But Cerberus is playing with his food again." Kiora looked back at the city. "Well, it's only a mile or so."  
She then looked over at the slowly approaching tsunami of molten lava. "And Maggie won't be here for another 3 miles it seems. Welp!" Kiora began marching in an animated fashion until a decent sized gust of wind stopped her in her tracks. "Ugh! My hair! Who does wind magic anymore!?" She groaned in annoyance as Aira now swooped down and slid into a fighter's stance.  
"Sorry! But you can't harm this city! The people here had no warning of your coming and they've also done nothing to deserve such torment." The blonde haired wind mage of white eclipse held her ground. Above her, headed towards the lava tsunami, was the blue exceed Happy, carrying Lucy.  
"Oi! Lucy you're heavy...!"  
"Shut it Happy! And get me to the tsunami! In the mean time, Aira is gonna need help and Natsu is down! She must be really strong. In that case, Loke!" She reached for Loke's key, only to see that it was gone. "What...!? It's gone! Did I..did I drop it? That's not like me.."  
"Lucy! No time!"  
"Right..! I'll find the key later! Taurus!"  
"She lifted the bull's key and after a glimmering light, out of his gate, the axe wielding spirit dove feet first towards Kiora, twirling his axe above his head until he swung down a vertical slice that hit the ground due to Kiora dodging. "Ugh...Ruika should of just snatched them all. Spirits are so annoying."  
"Snatched them all?" Aira stood puzzled, lost at what Kiora meant. She shook it off however as she stood next to Taurus. Ready to fight.

"Jaxon-San, the rain isn't having any effect." Juvia watched on as she let go of his hand. The downpour continued, yet still there was no sign of the tsunami giving leeway.  
"I know, Juvia." Jaxon huffed, until he looked up and saw a figure form at the top of the wave of lava. "What's that?"  
Maggie began laughing as she stood at the peak of the moving molten lava. "You bloody wankers really believe that water is going to stop my lava magic? You two are more condensed in the skull than even I expected from you halfwit twits."  
"She must be the one controlling the lava flow!" Jaxon glares at the Tartaros mage as she continued to laugh. "Lets attack her now, and maybe it'll stop the lava flow!"  
"Right! Juvia understands! Water slicer!"  
Juvia fires off two blades of water as Jaxon conjures up a green magic seal, capturing them in a tornado. He then cancels the tornado, using the momentum to speed up the water slicers as they rush towards Maggie.  
Still laughing, she nonchalantly sinks back into her own tsunami of lava, causing the water slicer to miss completely.  
"Darn it.. She disappeared."  
From the middle of the tsunami, four magic circles appear. And out of the magic circles, four golems, made of molten rock, and lava holding it together like glue appear. All four of them were about seven feet tall.  
"And what is that!?" Jaxon yelled.  
"Nothing we can't handle! Through the thick downpour, Cygnus and Waiston were seen standing across from the growling golems that just sprouted.  
"Alright, Cygnus! Waiston!"  
"Juvia thinks we need to think of another solution. The lava girls tsunami is getting closer!"  
"Huh? Right!"  
"Gravity God's Bellow!"  
"Roar of the Frozen Dragon!"  
Both firing from their mouths, a mixture of purple and icy blue magic swirl together as they easily strike through the four golems, breaking them apart.  
"Wow...thought it would be harder than that."  
"Me too, Cygnus. She must be all talk besides that giant tsunami."  
As Waiston finished speaking, the broken pierces from the golems began to pull back together. As if never broken apart in the first place, the four seven foot golems stood once again, charging both Waiston and Cygnus.  
"What!? No way!" Cygnus looked on in shock, then quickly dodged a hard right fist that one of the molten golems threw.  
"They just regenerated!" Waiston shouted as he ducked a punch from his own golem. With ice covering his fists, he swing a hook to the side of the golem in front of him. The punch broke off a chunk, yet the pieces floated back onto the creature, easily repairing itself.  
Cygnus and Waiston go back to back as the four golems surround and stalk towards them.  
"Any ideas, gravity god?"  
"Only one, but now isn't the time for a meatball sub."

"Jaxon and Juvia couldn't do it. So you all remember the plan right?" Jack looked at Zalen, Selene and Adamantine as they all nodded.  
"This will take a lot of magic, so I'm praying it works. We're gonna wait until it's closer in case it crashes before reaching us."  
"It's about two miles away now, Jack." Zalen says while fixing his glasses.  
"Just trust me Zalen. Reve and Sidney aren't the only ones with the plans all the time."  
"Uh...!...sorry, Jack." Zalen lowered his head, feeling bad for how he said his previous statement, for Jack to comeback with the one he did.  
"Suck it up and be ready." Jack looked back to see if Heather, Luke and the others were doing their job, evacuating the Magnolia citizens. Slowly but surely they were. Heather and Luke directed traffic from the east, while Elfman and Gajeel were controlling traffic from the west. Leading them all southward and out of the city, they kept a lookout for any stragglers.  
"Though I love the flow of lava, I feel like this isn't a fair exhibition for the blokes. I'll give them a taste before the real thing crashes into the buggers."  
Maggie's voice could be heard from inside the wave as a well sized magic circle could be seen in the middle of the wave. From the seal, decent sized balls of lava come shooting out, high into the air, as they begin raining into the city. The rain of lava caused a massive panic as the citizens of Magnolia witness the balls of the unbearably hot liquid touch down on their jokes and shops, melting away the structures.  
"H-hey! Don't panic! Just keep moving!" Luke's yell fell on deaf ears. They continued to panic, push and shove as they raced to the city exits.  
"Listen to the man!" The vanilla blonde yelled. "You're only making a mess of things!" Once again, the message wasn't received as they continued the frenzy.  
"Tch... This isn't working." The iron dragon slayer watched as even his crowd was no longer controllable. He looked up as the raining lava began decimating the city, taking out the bridge, and now random shops and buildings. Gajeel's eyes widen as he sees a lone little boy, just now running to catch up with the crowd a good few yards away. As bad luck would have it, Gajeel looked up to see a bigger sized ball of lava, falling, as if it had the little boy targeted. "Damn it! Kid!"  
Gajeel took a full sprint towards the kid, which caused him to freeze himself. The kid was so frightened at the situation already, he didn't know what Gajeel was about to do, not did he have the where with all to move.  
With no time to push him out of the way, Gajeel dives over the little boy as the well sized lava ball splashed onto him, causing Gajeel to let out a yell that everyone could hear, even over the frenzy of the panicking crowds.  
"Gajeel!" Elfman yelled as he ran to his guild mate.

"Heh...well first things first." Kiora retakes her molding position as she whispers. "Shadow make: Ursa!"  
Natsu was making his way to his feet from the impact he faced earlier. As he did he now wobbled in front of a giant bear made completely of shadows. Beginning on it's hind legs, the giant bear swings down a front paw that Natsu barely rolls away from. The paw slams into the ground, breaking it apart easily as it leaves a giant paw sized crater. Natsu rolled away, but the second he was on his feet, the dragon slayer put out both hands to block an incoming devastating horizontal swipe. The strength behind the bear threw Natsu off his feet. The bear hopped towards Natsu, and landing to a position right over him, but before the bear could swing it's next paw, Natsu concentrates his flames to his feet as he spins on his back like a dancer. The flames in his feet surround him as he does so, creating. A mini tornado that slams into the beer, causing it to back away as Natsu kips up into a fighting stance. Natsu growls as he looks at Kiora who was still looking at at still Aira and Taurus.  
Before Kiora could move, her first two annoyances were back, as Mirajane and Kaira both land on opposite sides of Taurus and Aira, Kairi on Aira's side as Mirajane took to Taurus's.  
"And now, to get you four out of my way. Shadow make: Death scythe!"  
Kiora showed an open hand as a small orb of shadow magic floated over it. She then gripped it, causing it to stretch out a good six feet. Taller then herself, the six foot pole of magic then grew a sharp scythe edge. Kiora then twirled the blade as she smirked at her opponents, and within the midst of her scythe spinning, she quickly slung a horizontal slice towards all four of her opponents. They all duck, just barely getting under the scythe. The swing of the scythe has a follow through of shadow magic. The magic went sailing off until it dispersed into nothing. Kiora began laughing to herself as she continued to swing the death scythe each an every way at her opponents. The four of them barely had anytime to react as they continued to dodge for their lives.  
"How is she that fast?" Aira asked herself as she side flipped away from another vertical slice. "There's four of us, yet she's covering the ground like it's nothing."  
As Kiora turned to throw another swing of the scythe at Kairi, Aira saw her opening as she quickly summoned a clear magic seal. "Wind Blades!" She fired blades, made of her wind magic directly at Kiora. Without turning around, Kiora back swings her scythe, destroying the wind blades. She then barely turned her head as she smirked at Aira, who was now looking on in shock. As she continued to look on, she witnessed Kiora disappear into nothing. "Huh?"  
Confused, Aira didn't even recognize Kiora reappear behind her.  
"Aira!" Kairi called for her friend as Kiora winds back her scythe, but it was too late, Kiora swings all the way through, slicing...Taurus in half as the bull slid in front of the wind mage. Aira stood with wide eyes to see the spirit sacrifice himself for her well being.  
"T-Taurus..."  
Aira could feel the cold hard stare from Lucy a mile away as the celestial mage was standing next a puddle the rain created. Shaking it off, she stared back at the incoming tsunami. "Please don't hate me too much. I know I promised I'd never summon you from a puddle again but..." Lucy pulls out a key, and submerged it into the puddle of rain water. "Gate of the water bearer! I open the! Aquarius!"  
Through a bright light, the mermaid, Aquarius appeared.  
"You have some nerve, breaking a promise like this.." The mermaid said in a calm tone. After she spoke, she saw the wave of lava in front of her.  
"I-I'm sorry! But please-"  
"I see it, so I'll excuse you this time. And look.."  
Aquarius holds her hand out to feel the rain continuously pour. "It's raining. I'll wipe this lava away no problem!" She lifts her jar as she begins to gather all of the water around her, including the puddles and the falling rain. The force of her jar inhaling all of the water began to shake the ground. The process however, was as slow as the lava travel itself.  
"This is going to be a close call!" Aquarius yelled to Lucy. "You sure you wanna risk standing here!?"  
Lucy shook her head. "I'm not gonna leave you to do this alone. I'm here with you, Aquarius!"

.  
Back in Tartaros, Ruika slid into "Daityas" library that he claimed for his own. Inside were dozens of untouched books, and one lone desk with a thick book on it, along with the vase that revived Arc. She looked around to see if anyone was inside. After seeing that the coast was clear, she quickly made her way to the desk. She opened the thick book as she began to skim through the words and titles.  
"I know there's a spell in here...that will let you posses items that aren't yours."  
Ruika sits in the chair as she continues to flip the pages. Until...  
"Found it!" She quickly covers her mouth from her own scream of excitement. "The black binding spell.." She begins to read the incantation to herself to memorize for when she's back in her room. "Warning? I don't have time for warnings, it's probably not important.  
[Warning, the black binding spell doesn't release the items bond from previous owner, yet it just makes yours stronger for the time being.]  
Closing the book without reading the warning, Ruika puts the book back to the exact spot she found it. She then pushed the chair back under the desk and took a step around the desk.  
"What are you doing?"  
Ruika jumped out of her skin as Sora showed up out of nowhere. The little girl tilted her head at the more than startled celestial mage as Ruika grabbed her chest, panting from the fright. "What is wrong with you kid!?"  
Sora slowly pointed at Ruika, and then smiled. "You're not supposed to be in here."  
"Yeah well, neither are you."  
"I'm in here all the time when I play hide and seek. Even Daityas knows."  
"Well, a tray of brownies says that neither one of us were here okay, Sora?" Ruika smiles as she grabs Sora's hands and walk out of the library.

.  
"Get...off me...you three headed, disgusting, drooling, mutt!" Takeru plants his feet into the underbelly of Cerberus, and with all his strength, kicks the beast into the air. Cerberus lands on his feet with a thud behind Takeru as the shadow dragon kips up and turns to the beast. Back to his emotionless stare, Takeru nods his head back, signaling Cerberus to come at him. And the three headed monster obliged as it charged Tak. In both of his hands, a small orb floated. Takeru gripped them both, creating two katanas in his hands. He then took off towards Cerberus. Nearly reaching each other, Cerberus lunges towards Takeru. He takes this opportunity, and slides under the beast, using his katanas to stab repeatedly into the stomach of the three headed hound. As they pass each other, Takeru jumps to his feet as he quickly turns to the now injured Cerberus, firing off a shadow dragon's roar. The roar slams into the three header beast, causing it to disperse into nothing as it completely disappears.  
"Shit... All that work and it was just raw magic, not even a being... She's for real.."

Less than a mile away until impact, Lucy continued to stand next to Aquarius as the water bearer was finishing up gathering all the water in the area.  
"...Alright! Lets do this!" Aquarius shouted.  
"Lets go!"  
Thrusting her arms, and the jar forward, Aquarius fires a giant funnel of water towards the lava tsunami. As it roared forward, a bright red magic seal forms in front of the gigantic wave of lava, and fires out it's own giant funnel of lava, easily matching strength with the water bearer until her funnel of water finally gave in.  
"I-it didn't work!"  
"But how!?"  
Aquarius and Lucy look up as the wall of lava towers over them, inches away from them. "I...I.." Struck in fear, Lucy was unable to move as Aquarius heads back through her gate. Less than an inch away, right before contact, a dark vector wraps around Lucy's waist, pulling her back towards the town. More dark vectors wrap around both Cygnus and Waiston, then Mirajane, Kairi and Aira and even Natsu and Takeru, pulling them all back into the town of Magnolia. Upon reaching the city, the dark vectors drop the mages in the street.  
"What happened now!?" Natsu yells out as he rubs his head.  
"As he finished speaking Taya walked by the lot of mages as she made her way towards Kiora and the giant wave that Maggie was hiding in. "Everyone stay in the town. I'm going to handle these two."  
Natsu quickly stood as he clenched a fist at Taya. "What makes you think you're stronger than them when all of us were having problems!?"  
"I'm not /stronger/ than them." Taya continues walking until she was in an ear shot of Kiora. She wanted Kiora to hear her next statement as she said, "But these two spoiled brats haven't changed a bit, I know all their moves. So this won't be an issue."  
Kiora growled a bit as she held her scythe. "What did you say traitor!?"  
Before anyone could move, about ten dark vectors fire through the huge tsunami of lava, knocking Maggie out of it and to the ground. She landed on her feet, and growled, then began walking towards Kiora and Taya to catch up. "You're a nobody when you left us, Tayakata."  
"That's not my name, Maggie Solfatara...Kiora. This is both of your's last warning. Leave, or prepare for the possibility of prison, or death. Doesn't matter to me since you continue to bear that awful Tartaros guild sign."

"You really think you can take the both of us?"  
Kiora and Maggie both laugh as Maggie turns back to the incoming tsunami.  
"Well I'll tell ya. We got about... Less than a mile before the wave comes crashing down on this bloody city. So sure, we'll properly entertain you until then, /sister/ Tayakata."

"Using that name just makes me want to rip your skull from your frame."

"OOO~! That's Tartaros talk! Well then TAYAKATA! Me and Maggie will remind you of your roots! So lets go!"


	48. Chapter 48

White Eclipse  
Chapter 48

[Flashback]  
Inside Tartaros guild, which was really a castle underground. Inside the main room, a younger teenage Daityas sat around with a bunch of older figures.  
"Not bad kid." One of the older mages said as he slapped Daityas on the back. "Taking down an entire city by yourself for an initiation mission is a big deal here."  
The young Daityas smirked as he enjoyed the veterans of Tartaros surrounding him, complementing the mage on a job well done.  
"No biggie." He replied, shrugging his shoulders as he comically buffed his nails against his chest. "I'm just glad to have one under my belt, or rather.." He lifts his right foot, to show a splatter of blood on the underside. "Under my boot."  
The other dark mages laughed at the pun. The unison of laughs causing an uproar.  
"You keep this up kid, and SS class won't be a dream, but just a pit stop. Your magic is one of a kind. Never even heard of a demon slayer, let alone a Hells flames one. Sounds like you were meant to be here."  
Daityas grinned once more. "I was meant to be here. I've found my calling. And I'll make you guys proud. Not that your feelings matter to me."  
They all laugh again. "I like this kid."  
During the uproar, a petite girl in rags and barefoot walks in. Once spotted, she doesn't move as a large shadowy figure of a man walks in behind her, patting her on the shoulder.  
"Everyone, this here, is Tayakata. Say bellow Tayakata."  
The little Tayakata crosses her arms, not saying a word, causing the man behind her to laugh. "Isn't she a doll. She's a new member."  
"Geez master, you're really recruiting them young now aren't you."  
"Age doesn't matter here in Tartaros. This guild, the strongest dark guild in Fiore, is a guild for more than talented individuals, who've either turned their back on the world due to what it's done to them; or if the world has turned it's back on them. Tayakata here is the second reason. You see, Tayakata had someone really important taken from her."  
Taya gasps a bit. "Please don't tell them"  
The shadowy figure, now known as the guild master at the time, chuckles again. "Now now Tayakata, you're a member of this family now. Your story is our story. I'm sure some of the guild members would love to share their story with you as well. Now, Tayakata here lost some one very important to her. Her sister, Namiyaka. No one would help her,  
So while I was out on a stroll I found poor little Tayakata over here, wrecking a city all on her own. I was quite impressed. So after hearing her story, I decided to let her join a real family. A family that would help her rid the world of the people who helped take her sister away from her. Can't you see it in her eyes? She's Tartaros material alright!"  
"Tch.. Let me see if she's Tartaros material." Daityas hopped up from his seat and walked over to her, now standing across from Taya.  
"...think fast!" As the guild master stepped away, Daityas fired out a powerful ball of Hells flames magic towards Taya. Impact happened, and then a cloud of dust. As the dust cloud disappeared, a dome of dark vectors appeared and then disappeared back into the ground as Taya stood unphased, but a bit annoyed that she was attacked.  
"Oh, look at that. What are those?" A random in the guild asked.  
The guild master then walked back over to Taya, putting his hand back on her shoulder. "Ladies and Gentlemen of Tartaros, meet the dark vector mage, Tayakata."  
With a grin, Daityas walks over and drapes an arm around Taya's neck as he leaned on her. "Not bad, I like ya!"  
"Like me?" She stood puzzled. "But you just attacked me.."  
Daityas blinks, but then laughs. "Like someone told me the other day, 'You better get used to it, because that's how we get along.' It's all part of being in a dark guild. Everything we do makes us stronger."  
"Look at Daityas, talking like he's been here for ages." The guild master laughs once again as Daityas and the others join in. Daityas pulls Taya in closer as he continues to laugh invading the uneasy girl's personal space.  
"You're gonna love it here."  
"I don't love anything ever, but I'm sure this place will be quite enjoyable."  
[End Flashback.]  
"Shadow make: Lance!" From Kiora's replica of Gray Fullbuster's stance, out of a black seal came four fast paced shadow lances. They head towards Taya, but the dark vector mage sends up a wall of vectors, blocking the incoming shadow lances. Without moving an inch from her spot, hands by her side as her hair blew in the slight wind, Taya summoned more and more dark vectors towards the two dark mages. Usually, they would quietly appear from the ground, but this time they violently uprooted the earth as the charged and attack Maggie and Kiora. They both charged toward Taya from each side, splitting the attention of the dark mages. They continuously dodge the vectors without losing momentum, making their way towards Taya. Maggie arrived first, and from both of her hands, she fires off a whip made completely of her molten liquid. Matching her strength, Taya summons two more dark vectors that slam into the lava whips. Behind that, another one comes towards Maggie at a high speed, scraping her shoulder.  
"You bloody-" Maggie winces as she holds her shoulder from the sharp vector that pierced a bit of her shoulder. Though she held her shoulder, when she let go, the deep cut at the edge of her shoulder disappears as lava runs over it like a platelet, covering the wound and slowly hardening into molten rock. Taya had already turned her attention towards Kiora, keeping her peripherals on Maggie. Kiora gives a nonchalant grin as she takes her shadow make stance.  
Once again, the tiny ball hovers over Kiora's hand. The second Taya sees it, she charges Kiora. The death scythe reforms and Kiora quickly gives a diagonal swing, Taya stops running quickly as she shielded herself with her own dark vectors. The death scythe cuts right through them, yet stops short because of them. Taya could feel the wind from the attack against her nose, and a small drop of blood drips from the very tip of her nose. Kiora continues her smug look as she rears back once more. Taya charges her once again, this time surfing on a few of her vectors. Kiora slings her scythe horizontally, but Taya dodged by raising herself higher in the air. The slice from her scythe cuts her vectors in half as Taya was now suspended in air.  
"I've got you now you piece of-"  
Before Kiora could finish, a grayish-black magic seal formed under her and violently firing out, was a multitude of dark vectors, harmfully pushing Kiora into the air.  
"No, I got you." Taya twists her body into a front flip, leading with her right foot as she uses the momentum to aim a devastating axe kick at the top of Kiora's head; but as she was about to make contact, two lava whips wrap around her legs and pull Taya down with force. Maggie then drags her around through the ground until she flung her towards the tsunami, Taya just now stopping short. "And we're the predictable ones!? Honey we remember that tired ol combination of yours."

"We need to help her!" Aira yelled as she set to run after the three fighting mages. Jack grabbed Aira by the arm, and as Aira looked back at the drunken mage, Jack merely shook his head no. "It's too late, that thing is about to hit any minute now. Taya's fight is over soon, whether she likes it or not and she knows it."  
Aira, listening to Jack's words, lowers her head as she takes a few steps behind Jack who now stood with his arms crossed, waiting. Everyone waited along with him.  
"Taya..." Nami watched with worry, waiting for her sister to get back before Jack went on with his plan.  
"Hurry up Taya... You're cutting it close." Jack thought to himself. He then looked at Zalen. "Get ready...we have the city to think about, so in the next minute, we'll begin."  
"What!?" Nami turned to Jack. "We can't start without Taya hear! She'll get trapped!"  
"I know that. And so does she. It's her choice out there."  
"Who do you think you are!? We aren't gonna leave Taya!"  
"It's her choice Nami! If she wants to survive she'll get here!" Jack's over powering voice caused Nami to stop arguing, even though she still was completely against the decision. "Taya! Hurry up!"  
"That's harsh." Natsu says as he crosses his arms, feeling bad for Taya.  
"It is.." Lucy replied. She held her arm, feeling the results of her own thinking, of watching Nami cry if Taya didn't make it to the city in time.  
"Leave it alone." Gajeel says as he walks up behind the two, crossing his arms as well.  
Natsu looked back at Gajeel, and then clenched a fist. "It's not fair though... There's gotta be another way."  
"If anyone knew of one without actually knowing, it'd be you Salamander."

Taya struggled to her feet, feeling the effects of her badly burned ankles, and also being violently dragged into the ground. He eyes widen as she could feel the heat against her back and without turning around, she takes off running forward, directly at both Kiora and Maggie, the only place she could run to. Her ankles were in too much pain so she took to riding on her vectors.  
"You really think you're about to just surf right past us doll?" Maggie cackles a bit as she summons another magic circle. Ten more appear behind that as Taya surfs overt them. Small, inactive volcanoes fire upward from under Taya violently, trying to knock her off her ride. Kiora slams her first back into her open palm after dispersing her scythe. "Shadow make: Wall!" Upon her summoning, a wall of shadow magic appears right in front of the dark vector mage. Taya tries to sharply turn to the right, causing her to slow down enough for another volcanic formation to slam into her, knocking her off of her vectors and on the her back on the ground. Kiora quickly goes into her shadow make stance and without an incantation, four restraints made of shadows sprout from the ground and wrap around her wrists and ankles tightly, keeping the mage pinned to the ground. Kiora and Maggie now stood over Taya as the wave of lava was feet away from contact with Taya and yards away from Magnolia.  
"Bloody hell, Taya. Seems like you still got it. And by still got it I mean you never had it. The old guild master failed in recruiting when it came to you huh?"  
"Now now Maggie. You know better than to talk to.." Kiora punts Taya right in the temple, causing her to pass out instantly. "..Trash! Have fun melting though."  
Kiora and Maggie turn to each other as Kiora turns them into shadowy figures. "No use staying here! We won!" Kiora says as she high fives Maggie.  
"Who bad?"  
"We bad!"  
"The greatest team! Lets head back and rub it in everyone's faces."  
"I swear Maggie, if Zeref didn't know Daityas personally, we'd be his favorites from hearing this story."  
They both disappear, leaving Taya stranded as the wave continued moving forward, less than feet away.  
"Taya!" Nami called out as she began to sprint towards her. Adamantine quickly grabs her. "Taya! Adam let me go!"  
He refused, and held her as tears began to stream down Nami's eyes.  
Natsu began running off.  
"Don't you dare!" Jack yelled at Natsu, causing him to look back, upset at the decision.  
"We never asked for your help, and we don't need it now! Back up Salamander."  
"So you're just gonna let her die!? Can you not think of another way to save-"  
As Natsu began yelling back at Jack, Takeru took off in a full sprint.  
"Takeru!" Jack yelled for his guild mate, but Tak refused to stop as he kept running to the dark vector mage who was just less than a hundred yards away.  
"Dammit! Okay Zalen!"  
"B-but Jack.."  
"Dammit Zalen don't do this to me now, we have a city of homes and people to save! Do it now!"  
Hesitant at first, Zalen steps up to the edge of the city, and widened his stance. He removes his glasses and tucked them away as the building mage then spreads his arms out as he bares his teeth. A huge, green magic circle appears and out of it, a thick and massive iron wall raises upward, the length of the city. Zalen closes his eyes as he quickly felt his magic deplete from such a heavy task. After finishing, Zalen drops to his rear, gasping for air from being worn out. The second he was done, Adamantine puts Nami down and walks over to the iron wall. Jack and Selene run to him and jump towards him. Adamantine then slings them both into the air as they reach the top of the massive iron wall. Now standing on the ledge, Jack went first as he summoned a giant earth colored magic seal. Rising from it was a giant wall made from the earth. Summoning it right in front of the iron wall and with the same length, Jack falls to a knee himself as he finished. Selene was up. Diamond scales flooded her skin as her hair waved in the wind. "Hang in there Tak.."  
As the diamond scales cover just under her eyes, a diamond colored magic circle appears under her. Selene then grips the wall of iron and earth, coating them both in diamonds, putting strenuous pressure on herself as she did so, just like Zalen and Jack. She didn't stop until both walls were completely coated. Once done, she too was exhausted and fell to her rear as  
Jack  
Grabbed her and jumped down, with Adamantine catching them both.  
Takeru was running as fast as he could, making his way towards Taya who was less than a foot away from being incinerated. He trips, but rolls and bounces right back up, barely losing any momentum. Taya continued to struggle, trying to break her way out of the restraints.  
"Stupid...spoiled little shadow... I'll kill them both once I-" Taya looked directly up, the shock just now hitting her as she saw the top of the tsunami of molten lava. The heat began to make her sweat as she watched helplessly.  
"Taya!"  
She lifted her head, seeing Takeru run towards her. "Tak, it's too late.."  
Ignoring her negativity, Takeru dove for the mage. Everything slowed down as Takeru raced against the base of the wave. Less than inches away... The lava failed to reach Taya in time as Takeru turned into his shadow mode, grabbing Taya in the process and pushes them both through the ground.  
Back inside the city, everyone waited behind the reinforced wall quietly, some internally mourning prematurely for Takeru and Taya. A few seconds later, in the middle of the crowd of mages, Takeru appears, cradling Taya until she got down on her own will.  
"Taya!" Nami runs over, hugging her sister as she continued crying.  
"Sheesh.. Come on Nami. I'm fine. Thanks Takeru."  
"Eh... Don't thank me yet. Lets see what happens with the lava flow."  
Luke looks up as the rumbling of the earth picks up. "Here it comes."  
Cygnus and Waiston stood next to each other, waiting as Kairi took flight to get a good look. The angelic mage gave an estimated count down.  
"It's coming in three...two...one...!" Kairi stays speechless as her eyes widen. Somehow, the tsunami of the molten liquid reaches new heights, now towering over the wall and flying mage. "Run for it!"Jack yells as Kairi quickly swoops back down, taking off running with everyone else, but before they could get far, appearing from behind the crowd was Lahar, Doranbolt, Correll, Odin, another familiar face that had Luke, Heather, Selene, Taya, Takeru,  
Gajeel, Natsu and Lucy in shock, and finally Ultear. The time arc mage smirks as she steps to the wave of lava. "I'll take it from here." She holds out her right hand as she concentrates for a bit.  
"What's she gonna do?" Jack asked as Bacchus came running in, then the rest of the mages that were at the council headquarters followed in behind. Erza quickly caught glimpse of the familiar face, but doesn't say anything yet as she turned her attention to Ultear.  
The wave comes crashing forward...  
"Go forth, into the future."  
As if time itself stopped, the wave of lava freezes in mid air. A hardening sound was then heard as the lava began to turn into it's hardened state. After a minute of this, she was finished. The once threatening tsunami sized lava wave was now a giant harmless chunk of rock. Everyone stood in shock except the captains, who just stood impressed. "Just like I remember, Ultear-senpai." Correll bowed as Ultear began walking back to the other side of the city. Ultear gives a dismissive wave as she walks by the four captains and Doranbolt. "At ease Correll, you're embarrassing me and yourself. Just call me Ultear now, you're old enough."  
"Hai! Duly noted, Ultear!"  
"She just...stopped it...like it was nothing..." Luke continued to stare at the now mountain of rock that was once the threat of Magnolia. He gulped to himself as he turned to Ultear who was walking away. "Phenomenal..!"  
The familiar face stepped into view. "We thank you for your service in holding off the two mages responsible, though capture would of been a lot more convenient to us all."  
Erza quickly unsheathed her sword, holding it against his neck.  
"Who do you think you're fooling? We remember you all too well, Aloy!"  
"That's right! You belong to Silent Sanctum!" Natsu barked out.  
Aloy, with a calm manner, slaps Erza's sword away. "That's first captain Aloysis to you. And I /was/ a member of Silent Sanctum, but instead of rotting in prison, Siegrian offered me a job. So I took it."  
"Well we don't trust either one of you." Erza fired back. "I've been fooled by people like you too many times.  
"Oh is that so? Well, I give you permission to attempt to strike me down. But let me warn you, Titania. If I win this fight, you'll be marked as a criminal for attempting to strike down a council captain."  
"And if I win?" The scarlet haired mage asked, still gripping her sword in case Aloysis tried anything prematurely.  
Aloysis then pulls his badge from his pocket, flashes it and then tossed it to Odin who catches it, a bit surprised at the action. "I'll go back to prison, and rot for the rest of my life."  
Everyone goes in silence, waiting for Erza's answer.  
"Well, Erza Scarlet? Do you accept this challenge? Since you're still sour over a past encounter?"  
"...I accept."

.  
Back inside the underground castle of Tartaros, Ruika was walking down the hallway whistling. She swung her key ring that held her keys. All of her keys and two more were visible. The two extra keys had a small black binding spell around them, visible, showing that they were now possessed. Loke and Ophiuchus were now under the dark celestial mage's control. Without a care in the world she kept whistling with her eyes closed, not knowing she was approaching an incoming Kiora and Maggie.  
"Ruika, please stop whistling love. These hallways echo and it's quite annoying."  
"Huh?" Ruika smirks. "I didn't think you two would be back so soon. After what happened."  
"Oh you were watching? Weren't we awesome?" Kiora smiles proudly as she fist bumps Maggie. "Perfect team."  
Ruika chuckles a bit. "Right, perfect team. Lets see what Daityas has to say about the perfect team." Ruika spins on her heels and begins walking back towards the main room where everyone else was.  
Kiora and Maggie look at each other and shrug, then following the whistling Ruika. A couple of minutes later, Ruika skips inside and stands with everyone else, behind Daityas who smiled at the duo.  
"Ah there they are! The best tag team in Tartaros!" The demon slayer gives them an inviting gesture, causing them to grin, feeling that they've done a job well done. They begin walking inside.  
"Don't take another step."  
The once smiling demon slayer now dawns a serious face. "Are you two trying to make me upset!? Did you do this on purpose!?"  
Kiora blinks. "But you just said-"  
"You two...miscreants, failed miserably!"  
"That can't be..we succeeded in destroying Magnolia. Isn't that what you wanted!?" Maggie scratched her head in confusion.  
"Oh, you did!? And tell me, in your own words, what did the destruction look like Hm?"  
"Well... We kind of left before it actually happened. There was no reason to stick around, we had won, right?"  
Daityas grabs the floating lacrima screen that he was watching from. He then turns it and pushes it towards Kiora, keeping it inches away from her face. Kiora's eyes widen as she saw Magnolia, still standing and untouched.  
"I...I... I don't..."  
"You don't... I'll tell you what you don't. You don't listen! What did I tell you cocky little asses before you went to do this!? Have a full proof plan right? But no. You two swore you were ready. Dammit I never been so annoyed. One job! One job was all you had!"  
"Aye, well we killed Tayakata for ya! So if you wanna take that vase of yours and revive the wanker-"  
Daityas then takes the screen away from Kiora, zooms in on Taya and shoves it towards Maggie.  
"...oh come on!"  
"You two failed me, miserably. I'm disgusted."  
"..Well shit. I don't have any words." Kiora began laughing nervously. She quickly stopped as Daityas turned to her.  
"So. Anyone here believe that they can actually get the job done, and ACTUALLY do it!?"  
"I'll do it." The light green haired mage stepped forward. Rugal nods, keeping his arms crossed.  
"Ah, the dimensional mage, Rugal. That shouldn't take long at all." Daityas grinned as he walked to him, patting Rugal on the shoulder. "This time, take a few days, for Magnolia to go back to ease, and to come up with your own full proof plan."  
Rugal nods again. "Not a problem. I'll be back in a couple of days." Rugal bows a bit and then walks out, walking past Kiora and Maggie.  
"Now, the rest of you, out. Especially you two."

.  
"Aloysis you're probably wasting your time. Not like Seigrain would really arrest Erza for something petty as a wager." Ultear had stopped to deliver her message, yet she now kept walking. "I'm leaving either way."  
"Wait for me Ultear-Senpai!" Correll runs after her to catch up.  
"I told you it's just Ultear."  
"Yes mam!"  
"Geez, what pompous captains." Selene places her hands on her hips, watching Correll leave until she heard heavy breathing beside her. She looked over to see Kairi and Skye with hearts in their eyes, fawning over the blonde haired captain. "...You two aren't serious right now..."  
"Shhh Selene. Correll is leaving..."  
"I'm leaving too." Lahar and Doranbolt both turn and walk off behind Ultear and Correll.  
Second captain Odin nods, crossing his arms. "I'll stay. Just in case."  
"We should leave too..." Taya looks at White Eclipse.  
"No way." Takeru replied. "I want to see this fight."  
Taya grabs Takeru by the shoulder with a single tear falling down her cheek. "Please lets go back to the hotel...

...I have to tell you all something."


	49. Chapter 49

White Eclipse  
Chapter 49

Rugal was already plotting the destruction of Magnolia. Sitting alone just outside of the underground castle known as Tartaros, the light green haired mage sat cross armed as he kept his eyes closed, breathing slowly.  
"Look at him, tryna be all mysterious and stuff. You ain't cool Rugal."  
Kiora and Maggie peered around the corner, spying on Rugal.  
"I wonder what the bloke is plotting."  
"Don't know Maggie, not a mind reader here."  
"Wow, someone's a bit snippy aren't we love?"  
Kiora turns back around the corner and slumps down to the ground.  
"Sorry, it's just...we had it! We had Taya pinned. We had Magnolia in the fryer. We had it all! We were about to be the all time best. The favorites. And somehow, those assholes pulled off a miracle. Miracles don't exist, so how did they do it!?"  
Maggie pats Kiora on top of the head.  
"Cheer up mate. We just made a couple minuscule mistakes is all. And if we did that and failed, there's no way anyone else here can succeed where we failed. We're the best team here remember?"  
Kiora nodded repeatedly while sniffling in an animated fashion. "I remember..!"  
"Atta girl, now, lets see if Mr. Meditation over here made any progress."  
"Right."  
Kiora stands back up as they both once again peer around the corner, only to see Sora creeping up behind Rugal.  
"What is that brat doing?" They both asked simultaneously.  
Sora pops her head onto Rugal's right shoulder. "Hi!"  
Rugal slowly opens his eyes to Sora's voice as he huffs out a bit.  
"Yes Sora?"  
"Whatcha doin?" Sora looked at Rugal with her big blue eyes, keeping an innocent face.  
"Thinking about a plan in destroying that town Magnolia..."  
"Does your plan include me?" Sora continued to look at Rugal, giving him the innocent look.  
"...You want in huh?"  
"You know Daityas won't let me do it alone. So take me with you please! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"  
Rugal huffed. "Alright alright. I'll have to start over in planning this now, but we can work together."  
"Yay!" Sora shouted with glee as she wrapped her arms around Rugal's neck, hugging him. "I won't let you down!"  
"You couldn't let me down if you tried, Sora."  
Kiora and Maggie continue looking on with a blank stare.  
"How?" Kiora finally blinked.  
"She's always getting her way.."  
Ruika then peers around the corner under them both in a mocking fashion.  
"What are we looking at?"  
Startled, Kiora and Maggie fall over. Now brushing themselves off as they stand, Kiora turns to Ruika. "Why are you sneaking up on people!?"  
Ruika blinks. "I should be asking you that."  
"If you must know, Ruika, we were trying to see what this bloody wanker Rugal was gonna do. Since we're sure it's gonna fail, you'll be up soon. Any idea of what you're gonna do?"  
Ruika smiles as she shakes her head. "Not interested. I already got what I want." She flashed her keys, showing her two new additions on her key ring.  
Maggie stares, and then blinks a couple of times, staring at the gate of the lion and snake charmer. She then notices the black lines around the key them both.  
"You've been in the book of Zeref haven't you?" Maggie grins at Ruika as her eyes flash in guilt.  
"N-no! And you better not tell either!"  
Kiora face palms at Ruika. "Great cover Ru. You're a natural."  
"Anyways failures. Loke and Ophiuchus are mine and mine alone. I now have the strongest collection of keys. Unlike you two, I'm prepared for the new world once Zeref awakens."  
Kiora's left eye twitches a little. "She just called me Tobias."  
"No she didn't? She called you...Oh."  
[From his room off scene, Tobias sneezes.]  
"Welp!" Ruika smiles as she begins twirling her keys on her finger and walks off. "See ya around."  
"...Yeah...see ya."

.  
"Last chance to decline Erza Scarlet. This whole situation can be avoided you know." Aloysis stood with his hands crossed behind his back as he waited for her to make a move. White Eclipse was making their exit as the two continued to stand off.  
Erza's body began to glow as she stared down the former Silent Sanctum Ace. "I'm not going to stand by while someone like you is allowed to join what's supposed to be security to the country." She reappeared in her Fire Empress armor, now standing with her sword gripped in both hands. "Here I come!"  
She lifts off the ground just inches as she charges Aloy with her sword reared back.  
"You don't have to make an announcement, I see you."  
Aloysis watches as she charges in, and as Erza swings down a vertical strike, Aloysis sways with limited movement, dodging the sword completely. He then slams a kick into Erza's sternum, kicking the requip mage into the air with little effort. All while still having his hands behind his back. Erza goes soaring into the air. When she recovers, she looks down, only to see Aloysis was now missing. All she saw was Odin, watching and smirking.  
"Erza behind you!" Natsu screamed out, but it was too late. As Erza turned around, Aloysis was in his Meteor state, and slams a spinning kick into her jaw, sending her plummeting hard into the ground below. On impact, clouds of dirt form around Erza, but once they disappear, she stood up, hunching over a bit only to find herself surrounded by six magic circles. "Third rapture." With a snap of his fingers, an explosion of raw magic comes firing out of each magic seal simultaneously. All six surround and collide with Erza, causing her to let out a loud shriek of pain as more smoke covered the area.  
"Shit! Erza!" Natsu called out for the S class mage, but not a sound was made. As the smoke cleared once again, Erza was flat on her back in ruined armor, barely moving. The only thing moving was her chest as she gave out slow breaths. Aloysis slowly walked over to the quickly defeated Erza. "Erza Scarlet, you are hereby under arrest for attempted assault on an officer and captain of the Council." Aloysis pulled out his cuffs as Erza slowly struggled her way to her knees. Keeping her head down in shame, she held out her arms, ready to receive the cuffs around her wrists. "E-Erza..." Lucy watched with her hands over her mouth as Aloysis slaps the cuffs over Erza's wrists, helping her to her feet in the process.  
"I'll be fine, just head back to the guild and talk to Master about what happened with the Tartaros mages."  
Still in a bit of shock, Natsu nods as the others also take in the agreement, yet they continued watching Odin and Aloysis escort Erza out of Magnolia, heading towards the council headquarters.  
"What now!?" Natsu shouted.  
"We're going to head back to the guild like she said." Mirajane added. "We have to inform Master what happened."  
"We can't just leave without Erza!"  
Natsu took a step forward, only to have Gajeel grab him by the shoulder."  
"Idiot...this isn't some guild you can fight. You'll be adding more problems fighting the council. Though I want to just as bad, use your damn head for once."  
Growling a bit, Natsu knew Gajeel was right, and finally succumbs to the obvious option. "Lets go.."

.  
"Okay, Amigo." Luke was the last one to entire the Inn's lobby as White Eclipse all say around Taya, waiting for whatever she had to say. "What's so important that we missed Erza getting arrested?"  
"You're not burned again are you?" Aira asked inquisitively.  
"Does she looked burned?" Kairi gave Aira a look as if the girl wasn't all there in the head.  
"She could be hiding it!"  
Cygnus cleared his throat to break up the mini squabble. "So what's the news, Taya?"  
Tayakata looked around at her guild mates, seeing their faces, unaware of the bomb she was about to drop on them. She swallows, then was about to speak before interrupted once more.  
"Hey where's Kuro?" Zalen asked.  
"Should we wait for him too?"  
"Come to think about it.." Nami chimed in. "We haven't seen Kuro since we saw the guild. I hope he's alright."  
"About Kuro..."  
Everyone immediately turned to Taya from her words as the dark vector mage clenched a fist then relaxed it. She kept her head down as she began to speak. By this time Calium had come downstairs and now stood behind his kids, only making it harder for Taya to speak.  
"I ran into Daityas this morning...before the whole attack Magnolia. But when I got there...he and Kuro were already fighting...-"  
"So he did burn down the guild." Waiston punches the wall beside him, startling the non mages walking through the inn.  
"Listen... I joined Kuro in helping him fight Daityas but... He cut me off. I couldn't get around the wall of fire and.."  
"No..." Zalen could already tell where this was headed. Sidney, Jack and Waiston also had it click in their minds as well.  
"Kuro...tried sacrificing himself to destroy Daityas... I'm sorry.." The lobby was nothing but silence as everyone looked at Taya in disbelief and shock.  
"Kuro.." Nami stood in disbelief with everyone else, not even sure how to react to the news.  
Zalen however, kicks down the closest table in front of him, and was about to do the same to the next piece of furniture until Cygnus grabs him, trying to calm him down as he goes into a frenzy of frustrated yells.  
Sidney looks over at Taya. "Is Daityas.."  
Taya shook her head, indicating that Daityas was still alive and well. "He's completely fine... Kuro turned to ashes, and he left."  
"Damn..." Takeru stood against the wall with his arms folded and eyes closed. "He must be some kind of strong." The Shadow Dragon Slayer thought to himself.  
"I know what you're thinking." Selene mumbled to Tak. "And dismiss it right now."  
Takeru nods, but does the exact opposite, staying in his own thoughts. "I'll beat him, for Kuro I guess, but I'll beat the guy."  
Selene just looks at Takeru, and shakes her head. "Dangerous kid."  
Calium then walked to the middle of the room. His face showed grievance, yet he stood tall as he addressed the mourning mages. "I know it hurts, but the last thing Kuro would want us to do is cry over him. We need to try our best to move ahead. Sidney just came back from the council about these guys, and now we see the reason why we have to follow the council guards orders and take these guys out before they get us. It's never easy hurling someone so young, but Kuro had all of you in mind when he did what he did. Don't ever forget that. Now, we need to regroup. It's become our responsibility to protect this city along with ye other guilds, and since we live pretty far to answer any distress call, we'll be staying here until the attacks stop and we can stop Tartaros."  
Skye, who was sitting on the ground, pulls her knees to her chest as she cradles herself. "I miss our home though."  
"Same here." Waiston sighed out. "But there's nothing to go back to. And we have to stay here now. Reve was right, we got what we asked for when we did what we did."  
Skye looks up at Waiston with a confused look. "What do you mean?"  
"Remember? Before we all went out on the job frenzy that for us attention, Reve told us the plan and the consequences." He then raises a finger as he speaks in quotes from Reve. "Once we succeed, being the best in Fiore will be our only reward. With that, will come heavy favors being asked from us. Things that we don't want to do, we'll be forced to, due to reputation alone."  
"Oh yeah..." Skye sighs again. "He was dead on."  
"Alright. Enough mourning and moping around for today. We have things to prepare for." Jack places his flask down as he stands up and walks over towards Sidney and Calium."  
"I agree..." Taya stood as well. "We need a plan of action."  
"I say we bring the fight to them." Takeru says as he stands up from leaning against the wall. "It's the only reasonable thing to do."  
"Yeah, lets rush into a guild, that we have no idea where it's located, and fight a slew of super powered merciless mages." Jack scoffed at Takeru as he folded his arms. "Come on now Tak. This isn't the games anymore."  
"Quiet. Here's what's going to happen. We're all gonna sit tight until the next attack. My dragon slayers. It's your job to get a whiff of the attackers next time so that we can track them to Tartaros. Simple as that."  
"Your the boss old man." Takeru then spins around and heads up to his "room" as everyone else begins to disperse.  
"I should find Reve."  
"Leave Reve be, Sidney." Calium shook his head at the Ghost Mage as he continued. "That boy wants to find himself, let him. No need to bother him. We never went looking for you when you left. He needs this."  
After a few seconds of blank staring, Sidney nods, and then disappears back to the roof of the inn. Leaving Calium standing alone in the lobby.  
"...Fiore is in trouble. And if Reve is out of the country, then that's better for him. At least someone will survive..."

.

"Okay okay! What about this!?" Sora smiled with excitement as she sat across from Rugal looking down at a chess board styled surface. On it, were a few pieces on one side, and a scale figurine of Magnolia on the opposite side. She picked up a piece that looked exactly like her and moved it directly in front of Magnolia. She then picked up the piece that looked exactly like Rugal and placed it behind the city figurine. "What if, I take the front, and you attack from the back. That way, once they run from me, they'll all run right into you! Right into your portal thingy!"  
"Hm.." Rugal strokes his chin as he listens. "Okay, but don't forget about the mages. What about Fairy Tail and the others?"  
"Well!" Sora begins moving the other pieces to surround the Magnolia piece. "That's where my shadow puppets can come in! I'll make them attack the mages while we level the city! Speeding up Daityas's lacrima process yes?"  
Rugal nods, and then gives the young girl a smile. "Well look at you, got this all planned out huh?"  
Sora smiles back once again. "I figure, with your dimension magic, no one can escape, making the lacrima process that much faster when everyone is slaughtered."  
"Sora!" Ruika yelled from the hallways. Her voice echoed through the empty corridors, easily reaching the little girl's ears.  
"WHAT!?"  
"Come feed your friend!"  
Sora huffs. "Excuse me, Rugal! Don't plan without me!" Sora hops down and runs off from the waving Rugal, who turns back to the board. Sora continues her brisk run even when she spots Ruika, snatching the bowl of gruel out of her hands.  
"Okay, ride." Ruika shrugs and then begins walking the opposite way.  
A few hallway turns later, Sora opens a door and skips inside. In the room was nothing but empty cells, all except the last one. In the last cell, was a chained up Meredy. Bruised and beaten, she quickly awakes as Sora opens the cell door.  
"Ew, Kiora and Maggie played too rough with you." Sora blinked at Meredy, looking at her bruises. "This is why all the dolls are in my room." Sora laughed a bit as she dropped the bowl right in front of Meredy. She then began skipping out of the cell. "You should wait for that to stop bubbling or you may die. Not even Mithril or Arc can eat that stuff!"  
"P-please.." Sora turns around to hear the pleading Meredy. "Please help me... You're too young to be so evil..."  
Sora stares at the other pink haired mage for a bit. She then gives a cheerful smile towards Meredy. "Evil? Tartaros isn't evil, we're just right. And no one else excepts the truth. So Tartaros does what you're supposed to do, force the truth onto them." As Sora finished up her statement, a small magic circle appeared in front of Meredy. A shadowy figure arose, all black with yellow eyes and blood red finger tips that were dripping with blood. The shadow being now stood in front of the mage with a sinister smile that ranged from ear to ear if it had any. Meredy's eyes widen in absolute shock and fear as Sora walks out. "Now, open wide so my puppet can feed you!"  
As Sora walks out and closes the door behind her, she skips back off as loud screams were being heard from the prison room.

.

Entering through the front door of the Council Headquarters, Odin and Aloysis escorted Erza down the hallway and was headed towards the prison halls until he spotted Siegrain and Ultear surrounded by Correll Lahar and Doranbolt. They all catch glimpse of Erza and the two captains walking towards them and stop conversation.  
"Hm?" Siegrain looked at the scarlet haired mage with a small grin, and then walked towards her. "Well what happened here? Don't tell me you tried to fight Aloysis? I knew you weren't ready to meet my second in command, Erza."  
Erza slowly looked up at Siegrain with hatred as she was powerless to throw a punch, no matter how bad she wanted to. "This is why no one can trust you, Seigrain. You brought the ace of Silent Sanctum onto your team of mindless followers."  
"You're not helping your case." Aloy interrupted. Siegrain held up a hand to stop Aloy from speaking. He then placed a finger under Erza's chin as he edged closer to her. "Dear Erza. I can't afford for you to be getting into trouble right now. You're way too valuable right now."  
"I'm not a tool for you to use, bastard!"  
"Ever so feisty." Siegrain then looks up at Aloy. "You've wasted your time Aloysis. Release Erza Scarlet and meet us in the conference room. We have much to prepare for. Odin, join us."  
Siegrain turns and begins walking away. Ultear gives Erza a condescending smirk as she then follows Siegrian out. Correll follows right behind Ultear for obvious reasons.  
"If you need any medical assistance,  
Erza, talk to the guards up front." Lahar bows as he and Doranbolt walk to catch up with the others.  
"I'll be fine." Erza begins massaging her wrists as Aloysis releases the cuffs from her. She then exchanges glares with Aloysis as he and Odin begin walking off.  
"You know the way out. I'm sure this isn't the last one we'll meet, Erza; and when that time comes, not even Siegrain can save you."  
"Tch." Now fully standing, Erza continues to stare down Aloysis until she finally turns back to walk out of the council building.  
"Aloysis...he's too strong to be a councilmen. I don't trust him, no matter what he says.."

"Siegrain."  
Siegrain turns as Odin catches up to the group walking, Correll nearly bumping into Ultear from walking so close.  
"Odin. What is it?"  
"Do you really think we should let her go like that?"  
"Relax." Siegrian slowly grins as he turned back around.

"Erza Scarlet is far too important for what I have planned. Daityas will most likely revive Zeref. So I'm gonna need her, and the rest of those reckless fairies out their..

..in order for my plan to work."


	50. Chapter 50

White Eclipse  
Chapter 50

A few days have passed since the first attack on Magnolia. Though White Eclipse stayed at the town's inn, nothing out of the ordinary has taken place since the attack. Everything seemed back to normal. Until...

"I swear I don't know what happened to it! I never take my keys out unless I'm using them!"  
Inside Lucy's apartment, everything was turned over, from her bed to the rest off her furniture. Even the clothes in her closet were thrown everywhere. Standing in the middle of the mess, was Natsu, Happy and Gray, watching Lucy continue to scramble around for her missing key. The gate of the Lion, Loke.  
"Oi, Lucy. You've been at this for days. Are you sure you didn't drop it somewhere?"  
"I'm sure Natsu!" The blonde haired mage yelled in frustration as she continued to scale her entire room, searching for Loke's key. Gray, quickly shirtless, begins to look around with his eyes with little effort. "Have you tried calling for him? You know how Loke is. He can open his gate without you."  
Her eyes widen with a hopeful smile. "Good thinking!" Lucy then cupped her left hand around her mouth as she yelled out. "Loke! Loke if you're here... Come out!"  
Happy then gives it a try as he stood on Lucy's bed with his paws around his mouth. "Loke! We have fish!"  
Gray gives Happy a look of disappointment. "That only works for you Happy."  
After a few seconds, Lucy drops her head. "I just don't understand how I could lose him.."  
"Let me try." Natsu cupped both hands over his mouth as he yelled. "Loke! Lucy's naked!"  
"Don't tell him that!" She screamed back at the Dragon Slayer  
"Oh... Did we come at a bad time?"  
The four of them turned around to see Sting, Rogue and Yukino now standing in Lucy's room as well.  
"HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!" Lucy yelled again, flailing about in frustration and confusion.  
Sting blinked, and then pointed to the only window in the room. "The window..."  
Yukino gave an embarrassed smile and a slight wave. "I told them not to, Lucy."  
"We heard screaming..." Rogue added. "And it looks like someone ruined your place."  
"I ruined my place.." Lucy sighed loudly as she re positioned the chairs that were flipped over.  
"I lost Loke.."  
Yukino's eyes widen a bit as she perks up. "How strange. I lost Ophiuchus!"  
"Really!? How!?"  
Yukino shrugged a bit as her face showed sadness of her missing key. "I don't know... One minute I had it with me, and the next, he was missing. I was actually on the way to Magnolia's magic shop to see if anyone pawned it."  
Lucy smiles at the idea, especially since it was her last hope to find her key. "That's smart! I'll go with you!"  
Lucy grabs her key pouch, scanning over them to make sure that everyone was counted for. She then walks to the door to her room, opening it before looking back at Yukino. "Coming?"  
Yukino nodded. "Hai!" She then exits the room with Lucy as the door closes behind them. Now standing awkwardly in Lucy's room, Sting and Rogue's eyes wonder a bit until they come back to Gray and Natsu. "So we heard about the attack here a few days ago."  
"Oh yeah." Gray shrugged. "We handled it. It was from Tartaros though. And the council made some huge thing about their guild saying that they're.."  
"The strongest dark guild." Rogue says, cutting Gray off.  
"Yeah... That."  
"We've all heard of Tartaros. I'm surprised you guys didn't know until recently." Sting begins to smile. "Things are always happening to you guys neh? Speaking of always happening, how's your friends White Eclipse doing?"  
"Annoying still." Natsu huffed from the mention of the Grand Magic Games runner up. "Their guild was burned down and they've been in Magnolia ever since. But we also got word, that that Reve guy disappeared and the red head Kiro died..."  
"Kuro." Gray said, fixing Natsu's mistake. "We heard he ran into the guild master of Tartaros, and didn't stand a chance...which is scary because Kuro was strong."  
"He wasn't that tough, you're just weak now."  
Gray slams his face against Natsu's, now standing cheek to cheek with the Dragon Slayer as they both push back, growling. "What did you say flame head!? I'll put you in the ground right now!"  
"You wanna go underpants man!?"  
Happy, who somehow made his way to their shoulders, pushes them both away to separate the two.  
"We were about to go find them ourselves days ago, but Lucy refuses to leave without Loke and she has yet to find him! She probably ate it!"  
"Be nice Happy."  
Sting was too busy watching Gray and Natsu to pay too much attention to Happy, chuckling at their actions. Rogue on the other hand...  
"Looking for them is a bad idea..."  
Natsu turned to the quiet Shadow Dragon Slayer as he came back to his senses from barking at Gray. "And why is that?"  
"They aren't a normal guild. I'm sure the last attack was no walk in the park. It'll probably only get worse, and you should prepare for it.."

.  
Lucy and Yukino continued walking down the street as they headed towards the magic shop in Magnolia.  
"So you looked everywhere you said?" Lucy blinked at Yukino, now looking at the white haired celestial mage. Yukino nodded. "I retraced all my steps, all the way back to Crocus. I checked every magic shop everywhere and nothing."  
"You don't think... Our keys have been stolen have you?"  
Yukino shrugs again. "I don't think so. I mean, if they were, why weren't the others taken? Especially yours. You have so many powerful ones, you'd think that Aquarius, or Taurus would of been taken as well."  
Lucy sighs again, as they come to the magic shop's door. "That's a good point." Lucy then puts her hand on the door handle as she takes a deep breath. "Well... Here we go. They have to be here."  
"They are I know it!" Yukino walks in behind Lucy as she opens the door, immediately heading towards the shop keeper.  
"Oh! And what can I do for you two girls today!?" The shop keeper gave a smile towards them both as they approached the counter.  
"We just have a question." Yukino said as they both now stood across from the elderly man. "I may have an answer!" The shop keeper replied with a smile.  
Lucy then begins to speak. "We both seemed to have lost something very important to us. Two celestial keys. The gate of the Lion and the gate of the snake charmer. Has anyone pawned them off of you, or bought them from you or anything? They're still under our contracts."  
The shop keeper stayed quiet for a bit as he began to think. After a moment of silence, the shop keeper began to shake his head. "I'm sorry, I haven't received nor sold any keys lately."  
Hearts sink as Yukino and Lucy sigh simultaneously. Yukino begins to tear up as she sniffles. Lucy looks over to the fellow celestial mage. "Yukino.."  
"I'm sorry. It's just... I miss him. That's my spirit..." She quickly rubs her eyes clean of tears as she walks out of the shop, giving the keeper a small wave. "Sorry for the trouble."  
"It's no problem at all.. I hope you find what you're looking for!" He waves back as the girls exit the shop.

"You ready, Sora?"  
"Hai! Me and my friends are ready."  
"Alright. Lets get to it then."

Natsu, Gray, Happy, Sting and Rogue all made their way outside as they now walked towards the shop to see it Lucy and Yukino had any luck in finding their keys.  
"Man, I forgot how lively this town is." Sting says as he walks forward, his hands on his hips as he continues to watch the people and scenery around them.  
"Yeah, it's the busiest city next to Crocus." Says Gray as he scopes out the scenery along with Sting. "Something is always happening."  
"Aye! There's always an event at least once a week here! And if not, then it's just busy streets non stop!" Happy smiles as he raised a paw in the air. "And the fish..."  
"We catch our own fish anyways Happy." Natsu laughed a bit as they continued walking, blocks away from the shop that Lucy and Yukino went to, until Natsu spotted a light green haired male in the middle of the street, standing with his eyes closed. Natsu then stopped walking, causing everyone else to do the same as they looked over at the Salamander. "Oi, Natsu? What are you doing?" Gray asked as he looked over to where Natsu was staring.  
"Hm?" Sting does the same, spotting Rugal along with Rogue and Happy.  
"What's that guy doing? He seems suspicious..."  
After standing still for a few more seconds, Rugal slowly opens his eyes, and averts them to the mages to his right. A smirk slowly creeps on his face as a light green magic circle appears from his feet. The magic seal causes a rumble in the city, causing shock at first, and then city wide panic as the rumbling became more violent.  
"Not again!" Gray yelled as he held his ground. Happy held on to Natsu's leg as the other dragon slayers stood firm, waiting to see what was about to happen. The shaking became more and more violent until everything stopped within the next second.  
"... That was it?" Natsu asked as he looked around.  
"You know better than to ask that, Natsu-San. Sting replied as he kept his guard up.  
Rugal began walking forward as the towns people began easing on the panic, still confused on what happened. As he walked forward, he reached a four way stop, and with a snap of his fingers, four portals appear at the end of each street, covering the entire intersection. All across town this happened, giant portals appeared at the end of each street, cutting off each turn. Even the alleyways were blocked by Rugal's portals. As Rugal stood in front of one of the portals, he once again looked back at the four Mages and Happy. "You're on little girl." He says to himself it seems. Just then, a faint giggle was heard as a plethora of shadowed figures pour out from the portals. The screams of terror once again begin as these figures begin rushing the city, clawing and pouncing on anything and everything; tearing apart buildings and streets and the occasional citizen running away from the terrors. Their sharp finger tips still dripping with crimson, they continued their mindless onslaught.  
"What the!?" Rogue looked on in shock as the shadow puppets controlled by little Sora began to do their work.  
"What's going on!?" Sting was too in shock. Yet, Natsu and Gray ran forward, both heading for Rugal as he entered the portal before they could reach him. They both slam on the brakes as he does so.  
"How dangerous do you think that thing is?" Gray asked Natsu.  
"Only one way to find out!"  
"Natsu!" Happy flew after the Salamander, who just entered the portal without a single concern for the consequences.  
Stunned at first, Gray follows right behind them both, disappearing away from Rogue and Sting.  
"Should we follow?" Rogue asked. As he did though, the shadow puppets surrounded the twin dragons as they went back to back. Sting lets out a chuckle. "It seems we have our own problem for right now.."

.  
"What's going on?!" Lucy and Yukino stood in confusion as they witnessed the portals form, and the puppets appearing out of them. "Tartaros..!" Lucy held her hand against her key pouch, ready to defend herself. Due to Lucy's movement to her keys, half of the puppets turn their attention to the two girls and quickly charge them, seeing them as the biggest threat in their area.  
"Heads up!"  
"Gate of the scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!"  
"We are!" Out of his gate, Scorpio appears as the puppets continue their charge, rearing back their crimson colored fingertips. "Sand buster!" From his tail, Scorpio fires off a funnel of sand, taking out half of the charging shadow puppets. The other half leap into the air as the ready themselves to strike.  
"Gate of the paired fish. Pisces." Yukino lifts her key as it glows, summoning the black and white twin fish, Pisces. Both fish ram into the remaining threats as the disperse from slamming into the ground. "They aren't so tough!" Lucy says with a point of the finger. "Scorpio! The rest of them, before they cause harm to anyone!"  
"We are!" Scorpio fires off another sand buster towards the two puppets scaling a random building, ripping the wall apart as they did so. The sand buster slams into the two as the disappear into nothing, clearing the entire area of the puppets.  
"Okay." Yukino says. "Now we have to find the source of these things."  
"Yeah." Lucy nods. "But are those portals safe to travel through? I don't know how these things work."  
As Lucy spoke, a faint giggle was heard once again, catching Yukino's ear. She turns around, but sees nothing. Lucy sees Yukino quickly turn and now looks at her in confusion. "Everything okay, Yukino?" As Lucy looked towards Yukino, she noticed the white haired mage's shadow moving on it's own. "Y-Yukino!" By the time she screamed out her name, Yukino's shadow had come to life, now standing like an actual person behind Yukino. She turns around, and scrambles away in a panic. "Wh-what... What is that!?" She yelled.  
"It's your shadow! Lucy pointed as she yelled in a panic.  
"How...! Lucy look out!" Yukino yells and points as well. Lucy slowly turns around, and then yells as she scrambles away from her now standing shadow. The two black silhouettes now stood side by side and both slowly lifted a black key, also made of shadows.  
"T-they can't..."  
"They're copying our magic too!?" Yukino and Lucy both look on wide eyed as the two keys begin to glow. Out of their gate, a silhouette of Scorpio, and the paired fish Pisces appear, now standing off with the real Scorpio and Pisces.  
"This can get bad..." Lucy slowly reaches for her keys, but as she does, she realizes her shadow that was now standing across from her, mimicking her exactly. Both stopping at the same time, and moving the exact same body parts with every move Lucy takes. Yukino's did the same as she shuffles uneasily. "Their copying our every move.." Lucy says, pointing out the obvious due to her disbelief.  
"Annoying... We have to get past them.." Yukino says, as she once again hears Sora's giggle quietly echo around the city. "Who are you..?"

.  
Before entering the portal, they were in the middle of Magnolia with Sting and Rogue. Now, after coming out of the other side of the portal, Natsu, Happy and Gray appeared on the southern part of the city, looking at the chaos that was the puppets, chasing the helpless and slowly bringing down buildings with their sharp crimson dripping fingertips.  
"We're in the south of The city." Gray points out.  
"Right.." Natsu looks around, and then quickly spots Rugal turning the corner, walking through another portal. "There!" Natsu begins running after him as Happy flies low behind the dragon slayer.  
Gray begins running behind them until he heard a familiar voice.  
"Help me!" The voice stops Gray right in his tracks. He then turns to his left and looks up towards the ceiling of a house. His eyes widen as he sees the same little girl with brown hair on the roof, being cornered by four of the puppets.  
"It's that girl from the hospital and the council head quarters!" He growls and then takes off running towards her. As Natsu disappears, Gray slams a fist into his open palm,  
And then slams both hands into the ground, creating a staircase made of ice towards the ceiling. He quickly runs up the ice staircase and at the last few steps he leaps towards the surrounding shadow puppets with his fist once again pressed against his palm. "Ice make: Lance!" As he thrusts his hands forward, a couple of ice lances fire forward, crashing into the four shadow figures, causing them to go tumbling away from the little girl. Gray landed in front of the girl, now ready to strike again as he stood as her last line of defense.  
"I got you.." The ice mage says as he keeps his eyes on the shadow figures.  
"Th-thank you.." The little girl whispers, unbeknownst to Gray, she began to show a small grin on her face as Gray stayed poised, facing the shadow puppets that now charged him."

.  
Over in the north eastern streets of Magnolia, a group of people ran for their lives as the shadow puppets stalked them. They scraped their claw like hands through buildings as the gave chase to the civilians of Magnolia, causing some of then to collapse. Finally, one man tripped and fell. With no time to get up, seven of the puppets surrounded the cowering man as he feebly scooted back away from them. "Please! Please don't hurt me!" The man begged for his life, but the puppets all reared their hands back, ready to strike.  
"Wind Blades!"  
"Gravity God's Bellow!"  
"Claymore!"  
From the top of the roofs of the buildings, three sharp blades of wind slam into three different shadow figures slamming them into random building walls and covering them with smoke. Then, a purplish black ball of magic slams into two more, causing the same effect as Skye jumps down and slices one of the shadow puppets in half. The remaining one swings a horizontal slice at the former assassin, but she swiftly ducks and and swings her claymore sword in an uppercut fashion, once again slicing it in half. The man who was about to meet a grueling fate quickly bows at the three White Eclipse mages's feet. "Thank you, Thank you so much!"  
Skye sneered a bit. "Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and catch up with your family."  
The man bows again and quickly runs off.  
"Another Tartaros attack huh?" Cygnus says as he notices the five shadow puppets that were slammed into the wall reappear.  
"Finally, some action." Skye says with a smirk, the usual innocent manner of hers completely gone. It didn't go unnoticed either.  
"Skye seems like a different person." Aira says as she balances some wind magic within her hands.  
"Lets worry about that later." Cygnus charges the five puppets. He then slides under the one in the middle, causing all five of them to turn around. As they did so, the head of the one to Cygnus's far right comes clean off thanks to Skye's claymore sword. The next one over throws a jab towards Skye with it's fingertips out, looking to stab her. Within a blur, Skye seemingly disappears. As the puppet looked again, Skye was seen balancing with ease on it's oversized hand. Skye smirks as Cygnus quickly leaps back towards the next puppet with a gravity infused punched. The second he connects with the figure's head, the sudden shift in gravy I slams it's head directly into the ground, causing it to disperse as it leaves it's head print as a crater in the ground. The remaining three were already charging towards Aira, who stood with her eyes closed and her arms out. "Black Hurricane."  
Aira then summons a small black orb over her index finger. It grows slightly before completely disappearing. As it vanishes, a magic circle appears under the three rushing puppets. The magic circle releases a black wind that lashes out towards the the figures, violently sending them into the air until they dispersed into nothing. Cygnus and Skye not walk back towards Aira as they scout the street to see if anything else was coming.  
"Alright... Now that they're gone..." Cygnus stared at the portal in front of them. "What do we do about these things?"  
"I don't know." Skye replies. "Do we go inside?"  
"Takeru and the others did.."  
Skye scoffs. "And we haven't heard from them since."  
"You said that like it was no big deal!" Aira says while flailing in a frenzy.  
"Calm down! We'll figure something- Cygnus wait!" Sky yells for the gravity god slayer, but it was too late. Cygnus stuck his head into the portal. He then pulls it back out and smiles. "It's Western Magnolia lets go." Cygnus then jumps in the portal again.  
"...dummie could of died." Skye quickly follows behind him, hopping into the portal.  
"Hey wait up!" Aira yells, but as she took a step forward, something grabbed her by the shoulder. Suddenly frozen at first, she slowly turns around to see her shadow silhouette behind her. She lets out a loud scream upon seeing the shadow.  
The second Skye steps out of the portal, both her and Cygnus hear Aira scream from the other side of town.  
"Shit!" Cygnus grunts as he hears his guild mate. We have to go back.  
"Cygnus wait!" Skye once again tried to stop him, but Cygnus quickly leaps into the portal, disappearing.  
"Gah! We can't just go running everywhere!" Skye turns and looks at the empty street. "Empty? No Shadow things here?" She began walking down the road curiously until she heard something rustle behind her. She quickly unsheathes her claymore sword and turns around, only to see nothing there. "..." Skye continues walking, except backwards as she kept her sword in her hands, until a bladed ring came whizzing towards her. Hearing the blade through the air, she barely swayed out of the way as a shadow like version of her blades ring, Biofrost went flying right by her; flying around back to where it was thrown from. "Biofrost?" Skye followed it with her eyes as it flew to a roof top. Seconds later, a shadowy figure dropped down from the rooftop as Skye stood in confusion. She then happened to look down and notice that her shadow was missing as a soft giggle was heard once again. The shadowy Skye look alike now requipped her version of Biofrost back into her regular claymore sword and pointed it towards Skye.  
"I see... It's my own shadow I'm fighting huh? This could get ugly then..."

"Aira!" As Cygnus leaped back through the portal, he found himself in an entirely different area if Magnolia. "What!? That's weird, this is the exact same portal we came through, why am I not with Aira?" Cygnus looked around, seeing the numbers of puppets laying waste to the buildings in sight. "Damn... I can't leave now.. Hang on Aira..."

.  
Eastern Magnolia, Natsu leaps out of the portal as he comes to a sliding stop with Happy right behind him. Now standing in an empty street, he stood across Rugal, merely feet away as the Tartaros mage.  
"You!" Natsu pointed at the mage as his light green haired swayed in the light wind. His arms remained crossed even though he stood against the Salamander himself.  
"Me."  
"You're doing all this! Stop it right now!"  
Rugal chuckled to himself, and then let out a boisterous laugh into the air. "Stop? I'm not going to stop. And besides, I'm not even doing the damage here. I'm just giving the puppets places to go so they don't have to run around and waste their energy. But I'll tell you what Dragneel. I knew that we would meet, because I've set it up so we could. Why do you think it's empty here? So if you can defeat me,  
I'll stop. But you better hurry, the longer you wait, the more victims there are."  
Rugal gives a sly grin as he remains standing with his arms crossed.  
"No problem!" Natsu gets ready to leap forward, until a familiar face steps through the portal, causing Natsu to turn around.  
"I knew if I would of followed the Salamander, I would find the better action."  
"Takeru.."  
Takeru grinned as he walked up to beside Natsu, not taking his eyes off of Rugal.  
"You can either sit this one out, or just don't get in my way Natsu. I owe Tartaros a corpse."  
"Hey now.." Natsu gives a wide grin as he slams a fist into his open palm, knowing that he was about to have to share the fight with Takeru. "I'm not sitting back! Lets wreck this guy!"  
"Natsu! Be careful!" Happy shouted. "His magic has something to do with portals!"  
"Portals." Rugal laughed a bit to himself. "What gave that away?" Rugal then uncrossed his arms as he held his arms out to his side, inviting Takeru and Natsu to attack him.  
"Come, lets see what you have against the dimensional mage of Tartaros!"

"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray fired his ice hammer towards the last of the remaining puppets, easily dispersing of it. After seeing the coast is clear, Gray turns back to the little girl and kneeled down to her with a smile. "You seem to be everywhere huh?" He held out his hand as she takes it, and then puts the little girl on his back, piggy back style. "Hang on, we'll get you out of here okay?"  
"O-okay.." The little brunette says sniffling. Her sniffles quickly stop as a small grin reappears on her face. Her hands slowly make their way towards Gray Fullbuster's neck, looking to snap it sideways.  
"Alright..lets see-" something didn't feel right to Gray, and he quickly looked back at the girl, who was still teary eyed. Gray then shakes off the feeling as he makes his way to the stairs he created. The little brunette tries again, slowly reaching for Gray's neck, until someone grabs her from behind and lifts her off of Gray's shoulders.  
"Hey!" She shouts out.  
"What are you doing!?" Gray quickly turns around to see Waiston holding the little girl by the collar as she kicks and flails about.  
"This girl was seconds away from snapping your neck, Gray."  
"Huh!?" Gray looks at Waiston in utter confusion. "Her?"  
"Tell him, or freeze." Waiston then begins to cover his hand in ice, causing the frosty aura to travel to the little girl's neck. She squeals in pain. "Get off me you stupid!" Losing her concentration, Sora's hair turns from brown, back to pink. Gray's eyes widen again as he quickly flashes back to the picture he saw at the council headquarters. "You're that little Tartaros girl!"  
Sora smiles an innocent smile as she allows Waiston to continue covering her in ice. Gray sees something creep up behind Waiston. "Hey... Waiston!" He couldn't yell fast enough as Waiston's own shadow silhouette slams an ice covered fist into the temple of the Frozen Dragon Slayer, knocking him out cold.  
"Waiston!" Gray yells for him as the frozen dragon unconsciously rolls off of the roof and lands on the ground back first and still unresponsive. As Gray turned to watch Waiston fall. He spots his own shadow coming to life. The shadow quickly places a fist into his palm and creates the ice bringer sword, but as it swings the sword down, Gray rolls out of the way, away from both the shadow and Sora as she smiles and waves. "It's been fun! See ya!" As she continues waving, Sora sinks into her own shadow and disappears, leaving Gray standing off against his and Waiston's own shadow silhouette.  
"Wait! Dammit!"

.  
"Wind blades!" Aira fired off a couple of sharp gusts of wind towards her shadow counter part, yet the counterpart performed the exact same move at the exact same time, causing them to collide and disperse in the middle. Aira then charges full speed and throws a swift roundhouse towards the shadow. It ducked however, showing it had a mind of it's own as well, and slammed two open palms into Aira's sternum, causing her to go sliding back as she held herself in pain. The shadow version of her then quickly fires a sonic boom towards Aira, slamming it into her chest. She lets out a shriek as she's lifted off her feet in pain. She tumbles, but quickly rolls back to a kneeling position as she slides to a stop. "G-gah!" Aira stood back up, but it was the shadow that charged this time. The shadow then leaped into the air. Aira still hasn't fully recovered, causing her to wince in pain, unable to actually move. But, as her shadow counterpart reaches the top of it's jump, a funnel of white magic slams into "her," causing the shadow to go flying backwards and into the building at the end of the street.  
"Huh?" Aira turns around to see Rogue stepping through the portal, now standing next to an already visible Sting who was wiping his mouth from the roar he just fired. "Seems like you needed help Aira." Sting said as he winked toward the Wind mage. Aira blinks.. "Uh.. Yeah... Thanks." As she turned completely towards them, she noticed Sting and Rogue's shadow begin to move. "But look out!" Aira yells, causing them to turn around in time to jump out the way of the shadow silhouettes of themselves. Both shadows swing around as Sting Rogue and Aira follow them by turning about. Now, all three shadows stood together, facing their counterparts. Aira took notice to Rogue's shadow in particular, seeing that it had a visible grin and red eyes.  
"Um, Rogue, what's with your shadow."  
"...You don't wanna know." Was his only reply as he readied himself for a fight.  
"Rogue." The shadow's grin becomes a bit wider. "Are you ready to come home, Rogue?"

.  
Natsu and Takeru both charge Rugal head on. Rugal didn't uncross his arms until they were mere feet away. As the two dragons began their onslaught of punches and kicks, Rugal began easily swaying away from them, coming out of the combination untouched as he slammed a quick but powerful jab into Natsu's abdomen, pushing him back, and the grabs Takeru and slams him into the ground, lifting some of the street out of place as he slides him down the with the form of rolling a bowling ball. Takeru hops up after behind slid for a good twenty feet and rears his head back. Natsu does the same.  
"Roar of the Shadow/Fire Dragon!" They both yelled out their respective roars in unison, and fired directly towards Rugal.  
"Heh." Rugal smirked as he lifted both of his arms, and from his light green magic seal he created two portals, one on each side. The two portals absorbed the roars. Not only that. Rugal then relaxed his arms, and then pushed them out again, causing the portals to close and then reopen, firing off the roars back at the two Dragon Slayers. Natsu covers up, but the shadow roar still lifts him off of his feet and hurls him away a bit before crashing into the ground. "Natsu!" Happy yells out as he flies over towards his friend.  
The same happens to Takeru as the fire dragon's roar lifts him off his feet, causing him to crash into the ground as well with a couple of burn marks. "Never...getting used to that fire.." Takeru struggles back up to his feet as his shadowy aura begins to flow around him.  
"Oh? Up before the Salamander? I'm not surprised that much tho, after watching you at the Grand Magic Games."  
"Heh.. So you saw me in action already huh? I'm flattered."  
"Don't be this is the last time you get up, shadow dragon."  
Rugal clenches his left fist, and without any warning, lunges towards Takeru and swings down a heavy left hook. Takeru blocks it, yet the shock wave behind he blow sunk Takeru into the ground. Now stuck, Tak quickly tries to free himself from the ground, but fails as Rugal slams a kick right into Tak's sternum, forcing him out of the ground and sliding once again into the ground. At this time, Natsu was on his feet and charging. He lunged towards Rugal and swung a fiery kick towards his head. Rugal grins again as he quickly opens a portal in front of Natsu, sucking the salamander right in. Rugal then takes a couple steps back and reopens the portal from the ground. Natsu pops out but has no idea where he is as he faces away from Rugal, just as he wanted. Rugal slams a hard right elbow into the spine of Natsu and then follows up by grabbing him and flinging him into the building side. Natsu goes crashing through the wall, but is quickly on his feet, though stumbling due to the beating he took. "Dammit...! This guy..."  
Takeru rose to his feet once again as he winced in pain. He panted a bit as he kept his blurry vision on Rugal. "Well, you are Tartaros... S-so I guess.. Warmups are over..."  
"I hope that was you warming up. Or you two are in a lot of trouble." Rugal says as he laughs a bit to himself. As Rugal laughs, the shadow aura around Takeru grows as a white aura joins in, combining with the shadows. Takeru's appearance slightly changes as he now stood in his dual mode, the White Shadow Dragon slayer.  
Over where Rugal threw him, Natsu walks out of the rubble as lightning could be heard crackling. Surges of light in appeared over his fiery aura as Natsu once again stood at the Lightning Flame dragon slayer.  
"Now we're getting somewhere!" Rugal says in a bit of excitement. Natsu and Takeru once again stood on opposite sides of the dimensional mage, ready to pounce at any second.

"Don't be shy you two. You can do it.

It's only ye fate of this city that's in your hands.

Can you handle it?"


	51. Chapter 51

White Eclipse  
Chapter 51

"Scorpio!"  
"Sand Buster!"  
Lucy points at her counterpart as Scorpio fires off a funnel of sand towards it. Consequently, their shadow counterparts do the same, at the same time. The two sand busters caused a collision in the middle, giving an explosion of sand before both attacks dispersed, leaving nothing but a stalemate. "This is getting no where!"  
"Pisces!" Yukino points towards her counterpart, causing the paired fish to charge forward, only to be halted by their counterparts charging as well. They continued exchanging head butt after head butt as the paired fish continued ramming into their shadow lookalikes. "She's right.." Yukino says to herself. "They're just doing the same thing we are."  
Lucy quickly pulls out another key as she holds it in the air.  
"Gate of the Bull! Taurus!" Out of his shining gate, Taurus steps out wielding his axe. Yet, just like Lucy, her counterpart also summons Taurus, except this one a shadowy figure just like Scorpio.  
Yukino looks over at Lucy, a bit annoyed. "What good did that do?"  
Lucy merely smirks, ignoring Yukino's question. "Taurus! Scorpio! Unison raid time!"  
"We are!"  
"MOOOO! Lets go Scorpio!"  
Taurus holds the axe down by his side. Scorpio then fires a Sand buster right into it, combining his funnel of sand into the axe. The sand now violently swirls around the sharp edge of Taurus's axe. Across from her, the same action was being performed by the shadow counterparts. Yukino continues looking on with the same look on her face, seeing Lucy's actions to be pointless.  
"Now..." Lucy then aimed her finger towards the shadow figure of Pisces. "Taurus! Attack the fake Pisces!"  
"MOOO!"  
"Of course! They can't copy other spirits!" Yukino internally congratulated Lucy as Taurus ran towards the Pisces counterpart. As the celestial bull leaped towards the paired fish. Yukino noticed the counterpart to Taurus leaping towards the real thing. "I got it! Pisces! Take out that phony Taurus!" Pisces then turns it's attention to the shadowed bull and rushes it, the white of the paired fish ramming head first into the bull. The black fish follows, slamming it into the ground and causing it to vanish. All while that happened, the real Taurus swing his axe down, adding more momentum to the sand buster as he fires it towards the Pisces counterpart. The sand buster connects into them both and Taurus follows with a hard swing of his axe right between them both, causing them to go flailing about until the slam into the ground, disappearing. "Alright!" They both scream in unison, exchanging high fives. "Now." Lucy says with a grin as they turn their attention back to their own counterparts. "To get rid of these two frauds."  
Before Lucy and Yukino could make a move, the two shadow figures raise another key on their own.  
"What!? They're making decisions on their own!" Yukino says in a panic as she witnessed a shadow silhouette of the gate of the scales, Virgo, appear right before her eyes.  
"I thought they just mirrored us!" Lucy took a step back in a bit of fear as her counterpart opened the gate of the ram, Aries. "I.."  
Before Lucy could react, the shadow silhouette of Aries fires off a wool bomb. The wool now held the two female mages down along with their spirits. Afterwards, "Virgo" then used her gravity magic to shift the gravity around both Lucy Yukino and their spirits. The gravity now begins to push them towards the ground. The force was to strong to fight back cleanly as they all now begin to struggle for their lives.  
"Yukino! We need your Virgo!"  
Lucy yells for the white haired mage. Yukino struggles around, trying to multitask between not being crushed by the gravity and reaching for her key through the wool. "I...I can't reach! The wool is in the way!"  
"Keep trying! It's our only hope!" Lucy begins to scream out in agony as the gravity continues to push them towards the ground. As their spirits begin to disappear, Lucy and Yukino now laid face first on the ground, desperately pushing up to fight the gravity.  
"Come...on!"

.  
"Dazzling Blaze of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu fires off a giant orb of lightning and fire fused with each other, hurling it towards Rugal. The same thing happens with his first roar as Rugal opens a portal, consuming the attack. This time, he elects to hold on to it for a bit as Takeru swiftly charges from his left, throwing a heavy uppercut that barely misses Rugal due to him swaying away from the blow. "Hmph...they've gotten faster. I'm sure their strength has also improved..." As he scouts his opponents in his head, Natsu comes flying in with an upside down kick aimed at the top of Rugal's head. Rugal puts up both arms to block, yet the fire behind Natsu's kick begins to scorch his sleeve the longer he holds the block. Takeru follows with a leg sweep that Rugal hops over. In the midst of the hop, Rugal pushes Natsu off and then opens a palm towards Takeru. First a magic seal, and then a portal opens, shooting out the dazzling blaze Natsu fired earlier directly towards Takeru. Tak barely managed to roll out of the way, but was still caught by the explosion from the attack as  
He crashes forward into the ground. He fathers himself after rolling a bit and then lunges back towards Rugal. Takeru then swings a right hook that Rugal blocks with his opposite arm. Takeru follows with a hard left kick aimed for his jaw, but in a flash, Rugal opens another portal that sucks Takeru's foot in. As Natsu was about to re enter the action, another portal opens beside him, and Tak's foot appears, kicking him right in the jaw.  
"Gah!" The dragon slayer grunts out as he slides backwards from the blow. "Watch what you're doing!"  
"Oh yeah, because I knew that would happen!" Takeru responds as he slides away from a downward punch from the dimensional mage. Rugal quickly follows by turning his fist into an open palm, and then planting it against the ground. He then turns on his palm and swings a kick with both legs, slamming into Takeru's sternum. As Takeru goes flying backwards from the blow, Natsu uses the Shadow Dragon's momentum by jumping on him, crouching, and lunging full speed towards Rugal. The lightning and flame aura surrounded him as he slammed a roaring head butt into Rugal's abdomen. Landing on all fours, Natsu watches as Rugal goes roaring into the building behind him. The building collapses around him, bringing up a plethora of smoke and debris in the process. With a smirk etched upon his face, Natsu stands and begins dusting himself off. That grin was quickly wiped away with a disgruntled Takeru now in his face. "Who said you could use me as a springboard Salamander!?" The shadow dragon yelled at the top of his lungs, obviously upset at Natsu's recent actions. Natsu just gives a smile and a dismissive wave. "Oi! Relax, we got him and that's all that matters." Natsu then holds a hand out, waiting for Takeru to shake it. "Great teamwork."  
Confused for a bit, Takeru blinked, and then looked at Natsu's extended hand. He slowly reached for it, and then slapped it away.  
"Nothing's changed.. We aren't friends, and we'll never be friends. We only seem like allies Because the council called on both of our guilds."  
Natsu gives out a sigh, and then a shoulder shrug, but before he could speak, Rugal quickly pushes his way out of the rubble, a bit upset. He began dusting himself off as he stood up completely. "Okay, I didn't see that coming. But now, I'm going to literally pummel you both to death."  
Takeru and Natsu both stood in a readied position as they waited on Rugal's next move. What happened next they weren't ready for. Rugal opened a portal right in front of himself. Then, with a wide grin on his face, he began punching rapidly through the open gate. Confused by his actions, Natsu and Tak didn't have the wherewithal to see the two portals above them open in time. From the two open portals, two different sets of fist came raining down upon the two dragon slayers. It was as if there was another Rugal joining in on the fray. Pinned down, Takeru and Natsu can't do anything but cover up as the fist continue to slam into them repeatedly. The punches were coming in too fast and too painful for either one to make a move.  
"Natsu!" Happy calls out as he helplessly watches his best friend and Takeru be continuously pummeled into the ground.  
"Yes.. I can do this all day. I don't know if your bodies can though." Rugal begins to laugh as he continues the onslaught, hearing the cries of pain from the two dragon slayers. "G-gotta...move!" Takeru plants his palms against the ground with force as he tries to push up, but it was to no avail as Rugal's fists continue to slam into him repeatedly. "It's useless. You'll die here." Rugal laughs once again, and continues laughing until a right fist from no where slams into his jaw. His eyes widen and after a delayed reaction, Rugal goes soaring towards another builidng. He opens a portal behind him however, and flies through it. Another dimensional gate opens as he softly lands on his feet, now holding his throbbing jaw.  
"Who..?" Natsu looks up, wincing in pain from the onslaught he took.  
"H-heh.." Takeru grinned as he could just make out the mage through his temporary blurred vision. Standing tall was the ghost mage, Sidney Castle.  
"I wasn't here for the last attack on Magnolia. So I wasn't going to miss this one."  
Rugal continues rubbing his jaw as he looks at Sidney in annoyance. "Who is he? He wasn't here when Kiora and Maggie attacked..."  
"Takeru, if you can stand, why are you still on the ground?"  
"...Tch." Tak begins making his way to his feet. "Everything doesn't have to be a lesson, Sidney."  
"You do things to learn, Takeru. If you don't learn from the things you do, then you've wasted a lesson."  
Already annoyed with his preachings, Takeru huffed out in annoyance as he stood next to a hunched over Natsu and a flying Happy. "Just beat this guy already."  
Sidney nods. "Just leave it to me."  
Rugal begins to chuckle at the mage in front of him. "You? You're going to beat me? When these two didn't stand a chance? How humorous." Rugal slides into a fighting position. "Come on, show me what you have."  
Sidney doesn't move an inch; not even readying himself. "Actually, it's White Eclipse tradition to allow the weaker mage to have the first move. So please, if you will."  
"Excuse me!?" Sidney's comment really got to Rugal. Not just the comment alone, but the way he said it, without a smile or different tone, signifying that the ghost mage was completely serious. Even Natsu stood with wide eyes, more than impressed by Sidney's nature.  
"Is he serious!?" Natsu asked as he kept watching.  
Takeru grins, letting out a single chuckle. "He's always serious. No one is stronger than Sidney, so he always sets limits to himself. Right now, Sidney is probably still lowering himself to Rugal's level. He's a dangerous man."  
"Aye..." Happy floats on, watching in awe though the ghost mage has yet to even make a move.  
"Yup.. No one ever dares challenge Sidney to a full on fight."  
Natsu blinks. "...I wanna fight him!"  
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Takeru and Happy both yell simultaneously in an animated fashion as Natsu just smiles at the thought.

.  
Sliding back from another failed attempt to battle their counterparts, Aira continues to hold her side in pain as she, Sting and Rogue stand together, wincing in pain. Their shadows stood across from them raring to go, waiting on their next move.  
"This is no good." The blonde haired wind mage began to huff out to herself. "They do the exact same thing we do, and more. They're our mirrors. We can fight ourselves." She perks up from her own closing words. "That's it! Sting! Get ready, my shadow is about to attack you."  
"Huh?" Sting looks over at Aira in confusion, and before he could ask what she meant, Aira brings forth a magic seal and then fires four sharp blades made of air directly towards Sting's shadow.  
"I see.." Sting noticed what Aira was doing. He then quickly snapped back to reality as he rolled hard to his left to dodge the incoming wind blades fired from Aira's shadow. Sting's shadow was caught off guard however, as it barely had enough time to cover up from the blades. Aira's attack slams into the shadow consecutively, sliding the White Dragon counterpart backwards as deep cuts were now visible on the shadow. "In that case, I got you Rogue! You take Aira!"  
"Of course." Rogue switches places with Sting and immediately charges the shadowed version of the wind mage. Aiming an uppercut that she blocks, yet the force behind it causes the shadow to stumble backwards. "Shadow Dragon's Claw!" Catching shadow Aira off guard, Rogue slams a heavy shadow infused fist into the clone. The blow sends the clone crashing into the ground until it disperses into nothing. Aira sweat drops as she witnessed the quick defeat. "That's encouraging...Wah!" Taking her eyes off of Sting's clone almost costs her as she desperately ducks under a White Dragon's roar. Sting's shadow then rushes towards Aira behind the roar, swinging a left hook. Aira sways away from the attack and then performs a leg sweep. After lifting the shadow off it's feet, Aira quickly summons a magic seal from under it, and just like the puppets she previously fought, the black winds sling the Sting counterpart into the air violently until it finally disappears.  
All that was left was Sting and Shadow Rogue. They continuously exchange blows until Sting slams a hard, light infused punch to the shadow's sternum. Upon landing the punch, a white stigma appears on the shadow's chest, causing it to be unable to move. Sting then grins as he cups his hands behind his right hip. A ball of light forms between his hands. He then thrusts his hands forward firing off his attack. "Holy Ray!" Upon yelling, a multitude of white beams of magic fire upon Rogue's shadow, slamming into the clone one by one rapidly. As the smoke clears from the onslaught, Rogue's shadow disperses. A few seconds later the shadows appear again, harmless and connected to their feet like normal shadows. Aira stares at her's for a bit. "...I don't trust it."  
"Relax." Sting replies. I think the worst is over. At least for us it is. Lets try to find the others."  
"Right!"

.  
Gray found himself near the edge of the roof as he stood across from his and Waiston's shadow counterpart. He looks down at the unconscious Waiston, then quickly turns back to the shadows. "Anytime now Waiston. Wake up..!" Gray grits his teeth as he slowly places a fist into his open palm. He took note, yet disregarded that his shadow was doing the exact same action. "Ice make:...Hammer!" Simultaneously, Gray and his counterpart create a giant hammer made from ice. Throwing it, the two hammers meet in the middle for a head on collision, the ice breaking into pieces right before Gray. Gray begins sliding the ice around with his foot against the roof as Waiston's shadow lunges toward him. With ice wrapped around it's fist. The shadow begins swinging punch after punch in hopes to land one against the ice make mage. Gray continued dodging the attacks, until he was caught by one right into his left jaw. As he stumbles backwards he catches his shadow in the corner of his eye, performing another ice make technique. Without a sound, from the shadow, five ice lances fire towards Gray. He barely leaps out of the way as he keeps an eye on both his and Waiston's shadow. Landing, he finds himself near an edge again; the same spot where Waiston fell. The two clones charge once again. Gray braces himself and then ducks a punch from the Ice Dragon's shadow. He returns with an uppercut to it's jaw, lifting the shadow off it's feet as it lands on it's back, laying there for the time being. His own shadow came sliding in and Gray lifts a knee, only to be met by the same knee from his shadow. The shadow then slams two different punches against Gray's jaw. Out of desperation, Gray ducks the next punch and literally tackles his shadow to the ground. Now mounted on top, Gray unloads a variety of punches to his shadow nonstop until Waiston's shadow lunges in and slams a kick to the head of the unsuspecting ice mage. Gray tumbles across the roof from the kick and now lays on his stomach dazed. With blurry vision he looks up to see the two shadows towering over him. Both of them rearing their fist back at the same time to deal Gray with the final blow.

.

Unlike everyone else fighting against their shadows, Skye was alone against her's. She stood across from her shadow in a standoff, both of them gripping their claymore sword as they watched each other carefully. Skye began to slowly wave her sword around in different directions, just to confirm what she believed as her shadow does the same in a perfect mirror like movement. Skye squints her eyes and crouches just slightly. She then lunges at her counterpart, and it does the same, meeting Skye in the middle as swords collide. Every strike that Skye threw, her shadow quickly parried in a mirror like movement. "Requiem!" Quickly, Skye requipped her Claymore into a straight wide sword with a sturdy thick blade and an accentuated broad edge at the end that appeared to be as tall as Skye. Her shadow didn't fail into doing the same thing, now holding the requiem as well. This time, the shadow charged first, and swung a low strike that Skye leaped over. And the midst of her jump, she swung down a vertical strike that her shadow quickly parried by holding it's requiem over it's head. With a quick spin, the shadow swings a horizontal slice, but it was a Skye with the imitation this time as the two swords meet for another draw. She bared her teeth, realizing she wasn't getting anywhere, basically fighting herself. Still, she had no choice. "Necrosis.." In her hands, her sword disappears as a scythe takes it's place. From the tip of the scythe, a purple liquid continuously dripped slowly. Once again, Skye's shadow held the same weapon. Still, she charged in. Meeting her shadow halfway she swung a horizontal strike with her scythe. The shadow ducks and then swings one of it's own that Skye front flips over. As she continues her flip, Skye begins to twirl the scythe in her hands. As the scythe spins, the poison liquid from the tip begins to form a visible purple circle. As she lands, Skye swings her scythe forward, releasing the circle of poison towards her shadow. The circle now spinning like a wheel against the ground as it travels towards her opponent. Her shadow leaps off to the right, dodging it completely. It then charges her again, dancing with it's scythe as he throw a different combination of vertical and horizontal slices towards Skye. This put Skye on the defensive as she began to take steps backwards as she continued to dodge and parry. "Tch... I have an idea. But it'll be risky. Claymore!" Skye backflips away from her shadow as she requips her normal sword in mid flip. Landing, and to no surprise, she sees that her shadow had the same weapon held. Yet, Skye gives a small grin as she holds the sword with one hand and charges the shadow. With her free hand, a light blue magic circle appears and Skye comes to a sliding stop after the two close the distance. They both then fire off a steam a blue lightning towards each other. Both streams of lightning connect as Skye and her shadow now stood paralyzed temporarily. "This is it!" Skye yelled as she slowly raised her sword, struggling against the paralysis. She forces her arms up to a stabbing stance as her shadow does the same, seemingly a second behind. With a loud yell, Skye thrusts her sword forward as her shadow does the same. Stabbing right into the abdomen, blood streams from Skye's stomach as she stood still. She looked down to see the sword from her shadow inside her. She couldn't help but laugh a bit, as  
She was counting her lucky stars. Skye's sword was through the other side of her shadow, and after a few more seconds, the shadow dispersed and returned to Skye's feet. With a joyous smile, Skye held her palm against her wound as she fell over backwards, breathing heavily with a smile.

.

"Well?" Sidney stood in front of Rugal emotionless. His arms stayed by his side, swaying slowly as if they were unusable limbs.  
Rugal gave a disgruntled growl. "I'm not succumbing to your stupid traditions..! I'm far superior to you. Don't you ever disrespect a Tartaros mage you annoying little two bit wanna be."  
"All I said was the White Eclipse tradition and already you're flustered and angered. Does Tartaros not teach discipline?"  
Rugal clenches a fist at Sidney as he begins to raise his voice. "What did I just say!? Fine, you're so quick to die! Here I come!" Rugal then charges Sidney. The ghost mage as yet to make a move. Rugal rears a fist back, and swings a fist forward, except when he swung, a portal appears infront of him, causing his fist to go right through. Rugal grinned as in the next second, a portal appeared behind Sidney and Rugal's fist flew out, aiming for the back of Sidney's head. Right before contact, Sidney quickly swayed only his head to the side, causing the fist to slam right into Rugal's nose. Rugal grabs his face as he stumbles backwards, now groaning in pain, but more of annoyance.  
"Whoa..how did he see that coming!?" Natsu asked as he watched in awe. Takeru declines to answer as he too watches. "I hate to admit it, but it never gets old to me. The way he dominates."  
Once he recovered, Rugal charged once again, and this time threw a normal left hook at Sidney's jaw. Sidney once again dodges by leaning his head backwards. He then counters by using his momentum to slam a head butt against Rugal's head. Immediately on impact, Rugal slams hard into the ground, creating a outline shaped crater. Growling, Rugal pushes himself up and quickly goes for a leg sweep. Sidney hops over it and Rugal backflips away to gain distance. In mid air from his jump, Sidney opens his right palm, and from it he fires off a round of tombstones directly at Rugal, in the same style Ultear would use her time ark orbs. Rugal grins as he quickly opens a portal, absorbing the incoming tombstones.  
"Yeah, projectiles won't work here Sidney!" Tak yelled out.  
"Anything works with the right innovation."  
"Stop lecturing me!" Takeru says, stomping his right foot repeatedly like a spoiled kid.  
Rugal kept a grin on his face as he reopened a portal directly above Sidney, ready to fire the tombstones back at the ghost mage, but the second he did this, a light purple magic seal ran through both Sidney and Rugal. Once the run through was complete, it showed that Sidney and Rugal had switched places. Confused, Rugal had no time to cover up as he now stood over the open portal. The tombstones came crashing down on top of the dimensional mage in rapid succession, burying him in stone. A few seconds after the smoke clears, Rugal powers out of the small mound of broken stones he was under. He grabs his shoulder and pants heavily while looking at Sidney.  
"Okay..this was a game at first. Now everyone dies."  
Rugal jumps to the highest peak in the area, now standing on the tip of a building roof as he raised his right arm. "Everything is going to the abyss!" A giant, light green magic seal appears above the mage's head. It then forms into a giant black hole. The black hole then begins to inhale everything in it's radius. Slowly, small buildings and everything lighter began to lift off the ground and into the abyss. "I hope you've had fun! Because this is your last stop! The abyss!" As Rugal spoke, more and more buildings began to uproot along with anything lighter. The abyss swallows them whole. Takeru holds on to one of the buildings still intact as Natsu digs his fingers into the street to hold on. Happy held onto Natsu as well. Sidney calmly stood his ground. On the outside he seemed un phased by the black hole, on the inside however...  
"Such a predicament, if I lift a single foot, I'll be absorbed by the black hole. Still, the only way to stop it is to beat him." Sidney nods to himself as he slowly crouches to the ground. He then plants his right palm to the ground as a magic seal appears. "Resurrection: Frankenstein." Appearing from the magic seal, was a giant, cliche looking Frankenstein. The monster stood about ten feet tall and took up a lot of space. Sidney stood on the monster's right shoulder, holding onto the bolt sticking out of the right side of it's neck for support.  
"What's this!?" Rugal looked on in shock, but his surprised expression soon faded as he saw the Frankenstein being slowly lifted as well. "It doesn't matter! I'll absorb all!"  
As the buildings started to go, Natsu noticed something under the streets that were now being lifted as well. He saw it, a patch of blue crystal like substances where the stone street used to be. "Lacrima!"  
"Hey idiot!" Taker yelled out as he reached his hand out. "You see the street coming undone!? Give me your hand!"  
Natsu reached out for Takeru and as the piece of road he was holding onto uprooted...he grabs it. Holding on for dear life, Takeru had to balance his grip between his left holding onto the building, and his right holding onto Natsu. Happy however..  
"Natsu! I'm losing my grip!" The blue feline called out to his partner as he slowly started to slip away.  
"Happy! Don't let go!" Natsu reached back for his partner. "Grab my hand!"  
With one paw hanging on to the edge of Natsu's scarf, Happy reaches out with his other paw to his partner. Inches away, Happy's grip finally slips as he lets go off Natsu's scarf. "Happy!"  
Being drawn towards the black hole, Happy quickly sprouts his wings. "Max speed!" The exceed yelled as he gave it all he had to stay out of the black hole, yet the abyss was too strong, and continuously pulled Happy towards the hole.  
Sidney's Frankenstein began walking towards Rugal, having to stop occasionally to hold it's ground and not be absorbed by the black hole. Four giant steps later, the Frankenstein rears a right fist back, but the second it does so, it begins to become lodged off the ground. "HA! You can't hit me if you can't even hold your ground!" Rugal began to laugh in victory as the monster was now holding onto the building Rugal was perched on. Consequently, due to it's size and weight, the Frankenstein was only bringing the building up with him. Holding on for dear life with one hand, the monster stared Rugal in the eyes. Rugal kept laughing as the monster's left foot was already in the abyss. Sidney continued to hold on to the bolt as he finally spoke. "I'll take it that this is your strongest attack. White Eclipse has another tradition saying that it's out of respect and only fair that I use my strongest technique as well."  
As he finished his statement, a magic seal appears under him as he balanced on the Frankenstein. Sidney places his palms together and then separates them by inches. As he concentrates, from the ground, four beams of magic sprout up around Rugal. Two were light and two were dark magic beams.  
"Hurry up!" Takeru yelled as his grip from the building began to slip.  
"Happy hang on!" Natsu yelled as he watched his friend slowly inch towards the abyss.  
"What are you doing!?" Rugal looked around at the beams that surrounded him. "Just die already!"  
"Eclipse tower." Sidney slaps his palms back together. In reaction to this, the four beams slam into Rugal as he gives out a scream of agonizing pain. The four beams swirl around each other and up into the endless sky. They then stop...and then reverse direction. The swirling, pushes down violently into the ground, crushing Rugal under it as well. Halfway through this performance, the black holes stop and the portals disappear.

.  
"Huh?" Aira looks around as as the portals blocking their routes vanished.  
"Does that mean..." Sting looked on in confusion.

Gray and Waiston'a shadows lunged towards the helpless ice mage. But before they could strike, they vanished. Appearing back connected to their respective mage's feet. "What happened...?" Gray forced himself up to a seated position as he panted heavily. Waiston finally awakes as well, staying on one knee as he noticed the portals disappearing.

.  
Holding her wound, Skye walked down the street as she saw the Eclipse tower for the first time. She often had it explained to her but never saw it herself. She smiled as she continued walking towards the inn that was now in sight. "So that's Sidney huh?" Her smile turned into a few blinks as she reached the inn, seeing her guild mates, battered and bruised.  
"Shadows?" Skye asked, as if she was already expecting a yes.  
"Shadows." Kairi replied as she stayed leaning against Adamantine. The rest of the guild laughs along with Skye, happy that the chaos was over.

Cygnus sat against a wall as the puppets he was fighting disappeared. Feeling relieved, yet beaten up at the same time, he looked up at the Eclipse tower as it began to die down. "That poor soul. Didn't stand a chance against Sidney. Heh."

.  
As the tower completely disperses. Rugal laid on the ground unconscious. His eyes were pure white as he lingered between life and death.  
"That's one down." Sidney says as his Frankenstein disappears. Natsu looked on in shock at what he saw. "I... That attack."  
"Natsu!" Happy that he was still alive, Happy flew directly into his partner's chest. Now embraced by the dragon slayer. "It's okay Happy. You're okay."  
Takeru walks out to the street where Sidney was. "...Thanks."  
"Don't mention it. We're all in this together."  
"Yeah, I-" before Takeru could finish, he spots Rugal's body being pulled away by his own shadow. Takeru runs to him and reaches down into the shadow himself, but it was too late, Rugal had disappeared.  
"Shit! Where did he..."  
"It must of been whoever was controlling the shadows." Sidney says as he begins walking back to the Inn. "Come on, lets catch up with the others."

.

Minutes pass as Maggie and Kiora wait eagerly at the entrance of Daityas's study.  
"OOOO they're gonna get it!" Kiora says as she fidgets around like a little girl anxiously waiting for trouble.  
"I know!" Maggie replies. Mimicking her actions. "Rugal got his ass kicked did you see love!?"  
"Of course I saw! I was watching with you, Maggie! Oh Sh! Sh! Here they come!"  
"I hope he doesn't yell at Sora though.."  
On cue, an awake Rugal and a sad Sora walk past the snickering Kiora and Maggie as they enter the study. Maggie and Kiora quickly walk in behind as they join the others inside.  
"Sora, go to your room."  
Sora doesn't hesitate to turn around and obey Daityas's orders as she quickly shuffles out of the study.  
Daityas then stands from his desk as he begins walking around Rugal, examining him. "You seem pretty beat up there Rugal."  
Rugal didn't know how to react, so he boldy spoke. "...nothing a good nights rest won't fix... Sir."  
"Oh? You need to lay down? Did that Ace really hurt you that bad? Here, let me help you go to sleep." Daityas then grabs Rugal by the collar, and slams him through his own desk, breaking it in half. Everyone in the room winced from the slam, even Kiora me Maggie who were smiling through their wincing.  
"That's two fails from the strongest dark guild! Two! Maybe I should those Silent Sanctum bastards to do the job!"  
"That won't be necessary." Tobias steps forward with a smirk.  
"I believe it's my turn."  
"...Tobias shut the hell up."  
"But I..."  
"Ruika, you're up."  
Ruika's eyes widen a bit. "But...I don't wanna. Let Tobias go.."  
"Okay, Ruika, it's your go, and Tobias is your partner."  
"I! But!" Ruika then throws a mini tantrum as she storms out the room. Tobias follows behind as he mumbles curses under his breath.  
"I swear you guys are really letting me down. I don't want to have to step out of this castle!

Because if I do...

There will be hell to pay. I promise."


	52. Chapter 52

White Eclipse  
Chapter 52

"I'm so sore." Luke whines out as he and the rest of White Eclipse, along with Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Lucy, Natsu Happy and Gray, sit around the outside of the Magnolia inn. Everyone was wrapped slightly in bandages. Everyone except Sidney and Calium and Happy.  
"Well, at least the bandage wrapping wasn't painful like Erza's.." Gray says over to Natsu.  
"Aye..." The Dragon Slayer nods to Gray's statement as he rubs his bandage covered torso.  
Zain hears the comment and looks over at the two fairies. "Does your guild's doctor not specialize in bandage wrapping or something?"  
"Guild's doctor?" The two say in unison as they look at each other, and then back at the rest of White Eclipse. "We just have a healing mage." Lucy states.  
"Erza tries but..."  
Natsu shudders at the painful thoughts of Erza wrapping their bandages.  
"I see.."  
"Well well, ladies and gentlemen." Walking up to the resting mages,  
were the captain, Aloysis, Odin, and Correll. They simultaneously come to a halt in front of the battered and beaten mages as Captain Aloysis begins speaking.  
"HI CORRELL!" Cutting off Aloysis before he could say a word, Skye and Kairi both stand a wave at the same time with hearts in their eyes, only to be not only ignored by the blonde haired captain, but pulled back down in their seats by Selene and Taya.  
"I would say a job well done to you guys but..." Aloy begins to scan the mages, and then the rest of the city, seeing buildings ruined and pulled out from the ground; toppled over. "I can't really tell who won here."  
"Heh...looks like a draw to me." Correll says. "The whole crew looks beaten down and the city is halfway in ruins. All that's left is the Inn and the bar, along with a few houses and apartments here and there. You sure you all didn't do that on purpose?" He smirked at his accusation as Natsu was about to stand up.  
"What do you mean by that!?" The Salamander asked in annoyance as Gray held him down. "Everything isn't a fight, flame head."  
Correll began laughing. "Sit down Dragneel you're out of your league. That wasn't even worth getting riled up about."  
Growling, Natsu took heed and folded his arms pouting angrily. "I don't trust the council. They blame everything on us."  
"Because you do everything." Odin replied. "Do you know how thick Fairy Tail's file is? And inside that thick file, do you know who's name shows up the most?"  
"I have an idea." Gray says with crossed arms as he smirks cheekily at Natsu.  
"You wanna go Gray!?" Natsu growls out as he was now head to head with the ice make mage.  
"I'm right here hot head!" Gray retaliates as the push head to head.  
"Weren't you just calming the idiot down?" Takeru asked, confused by both if their actions. Happy tugs on Takeru's shirt, causing the Shadow Dragon to look over as he shakes his head. "Don't even try."  
"Anyways." Aloysis says, gaining everyone's attention back. Didn't you say that you had something to show us?  
"Right!" Natsu says as he quickly hops up. "We found something while fighting that portal guy!"  
"Well? Lead us to it."

A few minutes time skip later.

Aloysis now stood over the exposed lacrima as everyone else stood behind him watching. He then bent down to a knee and began pulling up the street with his bare hands, exposing more and more of the giant blue crystal. After a good five minutes, Aloysis finally stops as he stands once again. He uncovered half of the street, showing nothing but lacrima. "Well, we now know what they're after..."  
"What are they after?" Natsu asked, blinking. Everyone stares at the ditz of a Dragon Slayer in disbelief.  
"Just let him talk, Natsu." Lucy says as she face palms.  
"Well then... Like I was saying, we now know what they're after. But the question is...why are they after this, and how did the lacrima get here?"  
Correll looks around at the ruined area. "So this is where Sidney and that Tartaros mage Rugal fought huh? Damn Sidney, this damage is beyond criminal."  
Sidney acknowledges Correll's words. "Rugal did the damage. I stopped him."  
Correll began to grin a bit. "Yeah but it was due to your fighting he released a black hole right? If you ask me.."  
"Let it go Correll." Odin interrupts. "We should be thanking Mr. Castle over here or there wouldn't be a city left. Countless people could of died today. Speaking of which.." Odin begins walking off. "I'll go get a victim count now, Aloysis."  
Aloy nods as he stares at the lacrima. "Alright." He then turns back to the mages. "I'll be heading off as well. Don't touch the lacrima, we'll call in a team to block off these streets until Seigrain gives us an order of what to do with it."  
Sting leans over to Natsu with a slight nudge and a mischievous grin on his face. "Hey Natsu-San." He whispered. "I dare you to eat a chunk. I heard it'll make you really strong.  
"Been there... Nearly choked to death." The Salamander replied, leaving Sting shocked at not only the lack of hearing this story, but at how calmly he said it. "But yeah, it makes you really strong, if you can get it down."  
"Something wrong Heather?" Luke asked, looking over at the distraught poison dragon slayer.  
"Huh? Oh, nothing. It just reminded me of that broken forest, where we fought Silent Sanctum. I almost got sucked into that lacrima. And now, we have more just sitting here, like it's waiting on it's next victim."  
"Which is why it shouldn't be touched." Aloysis says once again. "Now, our work here is done. Lets leave this area so that the guards can get ready to so their job in sealing off this area." Upon command, the group all leave the exposed lacrima where it is, and arrive back at the inn, where Aloysis and Correll both bow to the mages. "If anything else happens, let us know." Aloy then turns on his heels and begins walking off with Correll right behind him.  
Now standing around, the mages of White Eclipse begin to head back to the inn.  
"Thanks for the back up guys!" Aira says as she waves while walking with her group.  
"Back up?" Natsu says with an irritated twitch.  
"Whatever." Gray shrugs as he slides his hands in his pockets, walking away.  
"After all of that..." Lucy sighs out. "They still hate us... They called us back up...as if that's all we were.."  
"Screw them!" Sting yells out as he turns on his heel to the opposite direction. "I'm going home. I don't want to get caught in this beef. Sabertooth has it's own problems with regular people looking down on us already from the Grand Magic Games."  
Yukino watches Sting start to walk off, and then watches Rogue trail him. She then turns back to give Lucy and the others a slight wave. "See you all. I hope you find your key Lucy."  
"Same here Yukino." Lucy says while waving back. She then turns back to her three guild mates with an inquisitive look on her face. "I think things are slowly beginning to add up around here. Tartaros is starting to make sense."  
"Hm?" Gray raises a brow while he looked at Lucy. "What are you saying?"  
"Can we go to the guild first?" asked. "I want to sit down.."  
"Lets go to my place instead, it's closer, and we don't know if they're done attacking today, especially with the lacrima now exposed."  
"Fine..." Natsu huffed out as the four began walking down the street towards Lucy's apartment.

Just a ways past Lucy's apartment, the three captains continue their slow walk out of the half ruined city. They scanned over the damages as they walked, looking at the tilted over buildings and uprooted streets.  
"Hard to believe some shadow puppets and portals did this by theirselves." Odin says as he continued walking with the other two, his hands entangled behind his back.  
"You're suggesting the mages did more harm than good, Odin?" Aloysis asked.  
"Well, I mean look around. This place is recklessly destroyed. I can't believe Tartaros did this on their own. Fairy Tail is known for property damage, and White Eclipse is like a near spitting image of the lunatics."  
Uninterested in the conversation, Correll's eyes wander as he begins to think aloud. "I wonder how old Ultear is now that she's reverted back to her current age."  
"You're still too young, Correll." Aloy says with a smirk, snapping the blonde haired captain out of his trance.  
"Huh!? You heard that!?" Correll shifts his eyes around as the other two captains laugh at his disposition. "Embarrassing... Oh well there are other cute girls in my-" As they walk past the bar, something inside catches Correll's eye. He stops and squints, then smirks. "Hey..I'll catch up with you guys back at headquarters. I've just become parched."  
"If you're gonna drink then I'm gonna clock you out okay? No drinking on the clock." Odin says as they continue walking. Correll just waves him off as he begins walking to the bar. "Yeah yeah Captain Rule Book, I hear ya."  
A moment later, Correll walks into the near empty bar. Inside were only two people besides him. He sits down beside one, and smiles at the bartender. "Let me get an ale please, bartender."  
Seconds later, a mug of alcohol was slid down to the blonde. Correll grabs it and takes a few gulps. After he wipes his mouth and places the mug down, he turns his attention to the person beside him. "You're telling me your drunk ass slept through the entire chaos?" He asked the deaf ears of the drunken mage beside him. Knowing he wasn't going to get an answer to the sleeping mage, Correll then kicks the bar stool from under Bacchus, causing him to hit his head as he fell to the ground. Snapping awake, Bacchus held his head as he quickly stood up. "Huh!? What happened!?" The wavering mage asked these pointless questions as he looked around at the empty bar. "Did I fall asleep drunk again?" Bacchus then spots Correll after coming from his daze, still swaying around a bit as Correll took another swig from his mug. "Oh...it's you." The magic palm user sneered a bit as he looked at Correll. His drunken manner then takes over as he begins laughing at the mage before him. Correll seemingly ignores him as he finished his drink. "So Bacchus." The palm user stops laughing as Correll addressed him. "You slept through all this?"  
"Through all what?" Quatro's S class mage raised a brow as he looked at Correll in confusion. Correll merely points to the window, and Bacchus drunkenly walks to it. His eyes widen to the scenery outside, looking upon the destruction of Magnolia. "Huh...what happened here?"  
Correll raised a brow at his simple reaction. "Tartaros. And you slept through it. How, I don't know."  
Bacchus laughs a bit. "Sorry, drunk a little too much. Everything is okay now right? We aren't in danger anymore are we?"  
"I'm not..."  
Bacchus turns back around to Correll's words. "Hm?"  
"Let me ask you a question, Bacchus. Fairy Tail, they're known for property damage right?"  
Bacchus gives a bit of a shrug. "What mage isn't these days. They've kinda set the bar for this generation of mages."  
"Yeah, no. That's inexcusable. Anyways. When you look out that window, what do you see? Tartaros, or another job from Fairy Tail?"  
"What are you trying to say?" Bacchus arched another brow as he turns back to Corell. The blonde haired council captain then walks towards Bacchus, now face to face torn him. "I want you to agree with me when I say that, Fairy Tail, and even White Eclipse, are more harm than good. Think about it, with them off the street, where does that leave Quatro Cerebus?" That's right, on top." Correll then holds his hand out, looking for a handshake. "They're nothing but a nuisance in the long run. But I need support from 'witnesses.' A statement from an S class mage, saying that he saw Fairy Tail and White Eclipse do this will go over big in the council."  
Bacchus looks at the captain in a skeptical manner. "And what's in it for me?"  
Correll laughs a bit. "Besides your guild being number one? I'll pay you, heavy. How's ninety thousand jewel sound? That should hold your drinking habit for a lifetime correct?"  
Bacchus takes a minute, and then grins. He lets out a hiccup as he reaches for Correll's hand, and slaps it away. "Sorry, but I'm not really the being bribed type. And we'll beat both Fairy Tail and White Eclipse on our own terms."  
Correll snarls from having his hand slapped away. The immaturity and abuse of power begins to slowly show now as he takes a step closer to Bacchus.  
"Lets try this again. Either accept my offer and make a statement against the two annoying guilds, or be arrested."  
Bacchus lets out another hearty laugh. "Arrested for what?! You're the one who should be locked up, trying to threaten and bribe me."  
"Arrested for what you say?" Correll asked rhetorically as a small glimmer was shown in his right eye.

"Even the walk to Lucy's apartment is long!" Natsu hunches over as he continues walking with the others.  
"Stop complaining so much, flame head." Gray gives Natsu a one handed shove as he continued walking. This causes Natsu to bounce back into Gray's face. "Do you wanna go!?"  
"I thought you were too tired?" Happy asked as he shook his head.  
"You're not helping!" Natsu screamed back. Lucy just continued walking, rubbing her head in aggravation.  
"We're almost there, can you three just relax until we get there?"  
Natsu and Gray then separate, crossing their arms and averting their faces away from each other. As they continued walking, they were about to make their way past the town bar. Until Bacchus crashes out of the window, landing on his back.  
"What the!?" Natsu looked up to see the drunken mage angrily making his way to his feet.  
"What's Bacchus doing here? Has he been here the whole time!?" Lucy asked as she then turned to the blond haired mage making his way out of the bar. "Correll?"  
Correll looked over at the four. "Tch, stay away. This has nothing to do with you four."  
"What did he do?" Gray asked as Bacchus groaned, now fully standing and dusting himself off.  
"Right now it's public intoxication." The captain smirked at the petty offense. "I'm gonna have to take this guy in.  
"You threw me out of the bar you asshole!" Bacchus yelled as he readied himself to attack. "Public intoxication!? You should add assaulting a captain to that as well!"  
Bacchus then charges Correll. Correll stood with a smirk on his face as he did so. At the last second, Correll slid into a fighting stance, then ducked Bacchus's first palm strike. Correll then quickly follows up with two punches; one to his abdomen, and the second to his jaw. Bacchus stumbles back, but he keeps Correll in melee range as he began to throw a combination of palm strikes. Correll covers up, taking the palm strikes head on just to test Bacchus's power behind them. Though they heavily stung, the blonde haired captain began to grin as he felt the palm strikes connect. He finally sways away from one, and throws a hard uppercut at Bacchus, but the drunken mage quickly leans back in an awkward fashion and fires an open palm to his sternum. Correll goes sliding backwards from the blow but remains on his feet. "Heh...not bad for a palm user."  
Correll laughs a bit as he regains his stance, holding his fists right in front of his face. "I've never fought a palm user before, which is funny since I use fist magic."  
"Fist magic?" Natsu looked on with interest.  
"I don't care what you use. You'll never be as wild as me!" Bacchus charges Correll once again. He rears back his right arm and swings in a heavy palm. Correll meets him halfway, swinging a haymaker. His fist meets the palm user's palm, creating a shock wave strong enough to cause Natsu and the others to shield themselves. "Heh! Here then, eat this! Titans fist!" With his free arm, a magic circle appears in front of Correll. He swings his arm through the seal, causing his fist to grow ten times it's size. The now giant fist slams into Bacchus, throwing him backwards until he finally crashes into the ground. Bacchus tumbles a good bit until coming to a sliding stop on one knee.  
"This guy is incredible." Gray says watching.  
"Isn't Bacchus drunk too?" Happy asked.  
"The council really has upgraded." Lucy added as she continued watching the two mages go at it.  
"While you for are over there gawking, Mr. Incredible over here wanted me to make a statement against Fairy Tail to have them all arrested!" Bacchus screamed at the four as he rose back to his feet.  
"What!?" Natsu quickly turned his attention to Correll. Correll merely grins as he shrugs his shoulders. "The country would be a safer place without you idiots running around destroying everything."  
"Destroy this!" Without listening to another word, Natsu lunges forward and fires off a Roar of the Fire Dragon. Correll doesn't move as he watches the roar hurls towards him with a grin. Before the roar could connect with the blonde haired captain, something like a gust of wind pushes against the roar, dissipating it into nothing. "Heh... I knew you were around still, Odin."  
From around the corner, Second Captain Odin appears as he continues to walk forward to the group. "I knew someone as immature as you was only staying back to start trouble." He replied as he eyed everyone around him.  
"Tch..." Correll sucked his teeth, but then laughed as he turned to Natsu. "If you're wondering what happened to your little fire attack, Odin here knows oxygen manipulation magic. And since fire needs oxygen to live, and Odin can take that away, I suggest you back up while I handle the drunk over here because you're out of your league."  
Both Natsu and Bacchus snarl at the cocky captain as he laughs once again.  
"Like hell!" Natsu yells out, only to be held back by Gray Fullbuster.  
"Calm down! We can't afford for anyone else to be arrested! They let Erza go, but no one else will be safe Natsu!"  
Gray's words reach Natsu as he comes to his senses. Still snarling in anger, he calms down and watches the scene unfold.  
"Actually Correll." Odin interrupts. "You don't have any real crimes against Bacchus either. I overheard the little 'negotiation' you made Bacchus, and it's not gonna fly." Corell rolls his eyes as he slides his hands in his pockets. "Here we go again. Captain rule book is in effect." Correll begins walking towards Bacchus. At first, the drunken mage stood ready, but he then relaxed as he realized Correll was going to walk past him instead of to him. The captain stops however, right beside Bacchus as he whispers. "You'll get what's coming to you. One day. Karma doesn't have a deadline Bacchus."  
Bacchus listens, and then smirks. "You should take your own warning, kid."  
Odin turns to the party. "Sorry for the inconvenience."  
"Sorry isn't going to cut it all the time!" Natsu exclaims, but Odin ignores the comment as he follows Correll out of the city.  
"Today has been too much!" Lucy yells in frustration as she pulls on her own hair. "I just want to go home and take a bath..."

.  
"Didn't we just leave the bloke's study?" Maggie asked as she, Kiora and Sora begin walking towards the Tartaros library."  
Kiora sighs a long one as she hunches over while walking. "This day has been so long. I just want an acid bath and a nap."  
"I was in the middle of playing too." Sora says as she puffs out her cheeks in annoyance.  
"I don't care, this better be good or we riot!"  
"Kiora...we aren't gonna riot." Maggie scoffed at Kiora's statement, causing Kiora to scoff right back. Sora then joins the two.  
"What are you scoffing about?" Kiora asked the pink haired girl. Sora shrugs. "I don't know, it seemed like the thing to do."  
Maggie blinks a few times and then stares at Sora. "You're special, Sora."  
Sora smile brightly, taking it as a compliment. "Thanks! Daityas says so too!"  
Maggie and Kiora stifle their laughter as they open the doors to the study, where everyone was waiting. Their laughter quickly stops at what they say. In the middle of the room, Daityas had his arm draped over Tobias's shoulder with a huge grin on his face. Tobias stood with his arms crossed, grinning as if he's accomplished something great, standing proud next to his leader.  
"And what's going on here?" Kiora asked, blankly looking on at Daityas and Tobias being buddy buddy instead of the ridicule Tobias usually receives. Daityas looks up at the three mages entering the room. "Oh look, Kiora and Maggie. Last one here as usual."  
"Yeah yeah, just tell us what's up." Kiora sasses back as she walks over to Ruika. As she walked, she could feel Daityas glare pierce through her, so she decided to not make eye contact as she now stood between Ruika and the giant Mithril. Maggie walked over and now stood next to Arc and Rugal, who was nearly healed from all of his injuries. She looks over to her right to see all of Silent Sanctum, including Master Jikan, in attendance as well. Sora stayed near the door to round out the circle as Daityas and Tobias took the middle.  
"Now that you're all here. Tobias has a plan. A damn well beautiful one. Better than any Lava tsunami, and portals sucking up Magnolia."  
Maggie, Kiora, and Rugal all eye twitch to Daityas's comment.  
"Now, we all know I like to do things without getting my hands too dirty."  
"Lazy!" Kiora coughs out the word. Her eyes then widen as she ducks an incoming hells flame fire ball just in time. She then stood quiet, not daring to say another word. Mithril, who towered over her, licked his, index and thumb, and then pinched the strand of hair sticking out of Kiora's head to douse out the fire she didn't recognize burning on the top of her head.  
"As I was saying. I'm not a fan of getting my hands dirty. Since spoiled brat number three over there.." Daityas then eyes Ruika a bit. The celestial mage quickly averts her eyes to a random spot in the room as she whistles. "..didn't want to finish off what Rugal started, Tobias has come up with a brilliant move that requires all of you to participate. And I mean all of you. Ladies and gentlemen. We're going to have visitors soon."  
Maggie quickly raises a hand. "Um, excuse me love, but...what?"  
"Oh, spoiled brat number two has a question." Daityas then grins as he backs away from Tobias. "Explain it to them Tobias."  
Tobias smiles as he raises a finger. But before he could speak, a figure walks in, pushing the doors open.  
"Sorry I'm late, council business."  
"It's okay Aloysis." Daityas says as he leans against his desk with his arms crossed. "You're just in time from my main man Tobias's master plan."  
"Tobias?" The white haired mage gave a skeptical look.  
"That's what we said." Maggie mumbled to herself.  
"Anyways." Tobias says as Aloy slides into the circle, next to his Silent Sanctum brethren. "As you've heard, we are going to be having visitors here at Tartaros castle. Which means one thing. We will be raising Tartaros castle from the underground."  
"Hate this plan already. We all agreed not to raise the castle until we had all the tools needed to awaken Zeref." Maggie protested.  
"But that's the thing." Tobias fires back. "Once we raise the castle, we will have the necessary tools needed to revive Zeref. Listen carefully and try to keep up. I'm not going to give full details, because that's no fun, so just listen for your part in this. We've been going after the wrong lacrima. The lacrima we need to retrieve first, is the one Sora planted in the council headquarters."  
"That one is no where near ready though." Arc protested.  
"Ah but it will be! Once we ambush the entire council headquarters." Tobias grins, now gaining Arc's full attention.  
"Kind of dangerous to take on all of the council guards and captains don't you think?" Myou asked, causing Tobias to chuckle a bit. "I'd expect such a question from such a lesser guild. That's why you'll be our first line of 'defense' in the castle."  
"Okay I'm getting lost. Everyone let Tobias finish." Ruika says as she refolds her arms.  
"Right, so.. As I was saying. Our first mission, is to take out the council headquarters. The more magic used around lacrima, the faster the process will speed up, so don't hold anything back on anyone. Attack any and everyone."  
"What about Siegrain? He's no walk in the park is he?" Hokori asked as he inhaled his smoke stick, holding in the fumes as he waited for an answer."  
"Leave Siegrain to me." Daityas stands back up from leaning on the desk. "I made Jellal give that backstabber life. I even gave him back Ultear. He had one job, to keep the council busy while we operated. And since he wants to betray us, I'll have his head."  
"Can I mount it on my wall!?" Ruika asked with a bit of excitement. All of Silent Sanctum look at her as if she was insane, yet it was normal for Tartaros. "I have a thing for heads on walls...it adds a nice touch to any room."  
"So... We're all in agreement here right?" Tobias asked, getting a unison of nods and mutters saying that they're all in.  
"And when does this attack take place?" Jikan asked.  
"I'm going to need you to stay back on this one, Master Jikan. In fact, only a select few are coming along on this. And by select few I mean your Silent Sanctum crew, me of course, Ruika, Kiora, Arc and Daityas."  
"A very odd lineup. But it's your plan. And if Daityas likes it, then it's obviously a perfect one."  
Tobias nods to Jikan Calium's words. "To answer your question by the way. We ship off to attack in a few minutes."  
"I haven't been in action in so long." Myou says quietly, yet loud enough for Maggie to hear.  
"With those rags you have on, you look like you've just came from a brawl, 'love.'" The lava mage snickers at her own comment, causing Myou to stare at her. "What?"  
Myou doesn't answer Maggie. She just continues to stare, causing Maggie to awkwardly look away. "Weirdo.."  
"Myou would kill her.." Byron says to himself, internally sticking up for his strange guild mate.  
"Alright!" Daityas claps his hands together once, creating a small ball of hells flames that quickly dissipates. "You all heard captain Tobias. Get ready to ship out!" Daityas walks to the exit, giving Tobias a hard slap on the back in the process. "I'm proud of you Tobias! And to think I almost killed you for barging into my study because I thought you had some stupid idea going on in your head."  
Tobias gulps, thinking about the recent memory that no one was around to see, how he had to quickly tell Daityas everything before the demon slayer could get to him in time.  
"Well well. The elemental mage Tobias is making moves." Kiora says sarcastically as she heads for the exit. "Now that that's finally over. Sora come run Kiora a quick acid bath and I'll tell you where I hid your favorite doll."  
"Coming!" The little pinkette yelled out as she scurried behind Kiora.  
"Run me a lava bath too and I'll give you the head back to your favorite doll." Maggie says as she follows them out.  
"Best. Day. Ever!" Sora screams out as she runs ahead. Everyone else followed behind to get ready or to go about their business.

.

"Ahh..." Natsu plopped into a chair in the celestial mage's apartment. Feeling refreshed after his shower, he sat across from Gray as Lucy stood up from her bed. "So Lucy.. You said you had some idea on what those guys were up to?"  
Lucy perks up and snaps her fingers. "Right! Okay here's my theory, and I may need Levy to look this up to verify, but I think Tartaros is planting and gathering lacrima to revive Zeref. Just like that Silent Sanctum group was trying to do in that forest!"  
Gray and Natsu look at each other, and then back at Lucy.  
"...duh."  
Lucy's face drops from Gray's comment. "You mean, you know?"  
"Come on Lucy." Natsu says. "It's like the tower of heaven all over again, except no tower, but an entire city!  
Lucy drops her head completely. "Even Natsu had the same hunch."  
"Ehe...hey!"  
"So now we have to protect Magnolia even more right!?" Happy asked while raising a paw.  
"Right! But this raises another question. This can't be the only place where they've hidden lacrima. So where else could there be any?"  
"Good question, Gray." Lucy rubs her chin as she ponders the thought. "But...if there is more, why continuously attack Magnolia? I mean we're all over here, why not gather the others? Unless they already have, and we're the last line of defense to Zeref's awakening!?"  
"Slow down Lucy, we can't jump to any conclusions. They could cost us."  
Natsu then jumps up after Gray finished. "Aye! I say we find them and bust them up!"  
"Great idea Natsu! Only one problem... We don't know where they are flame brain!"  
Natsu smirks as he points to his nose. "But we do, I have that green haired guy's scent!"  
"You can follow a scent even though he disappeared into the shadows?" Happy asked.  
"...No"  
"Idiot! We're getting no where!"  
"Maybe that's a good thing." Lucy says as she straps her keys around her waist after counting to make sure they were all there. She gave out a small sigh at the fact Loke was still missing. "We should head to the guild and see what's going on there."  
"I agree." Gray says as he stands from his seat.  
"Aye! Maybe Gramps has an answer!"

.

"Sir Siegrain." Standing in the hallway, Siegrain and Ultear were conversion as Lahar and Doranbolt approach them both.  
"Lahar. What is it?"  
Lahar respectively bows. Doranbolt joins in the bow. They both then return to their standing positions. "Just making sure you haven't forgotten about us."  
Siegrain chuckles a bit. "Forgotten? My best two men? Of course not. I don't need you two out there for every petty little attack that Tartaros throws at us. I need you both ready at a moments notice, just in case anything major goes down."  
Doranbolt then nods a bit. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking... What if Zeref is revived? You usually have a plan for everything. So I was just wondering.."  
"Say no more, Doranbolt. I've thought of this as well. And there's one solution to Zeref if he's revived. Etherion."  
Lahar's eyes widen. "I thought that the Etherion has been discontinued!? Ever since.."  
"Since I destroyed it?" Ultear asks rhetorically. "We've made repairs, the Etherion is up and running and just waiting on the Death mage to show his face. But we're sure it won't have to come to that."  
"That's our Ultear and Siegrain-Senpai." Correll says as he walks up with Odin. "Always thinking ahead, having everything covered."  
Siegrain gives Correll a look over. "Correll, been in a scuffle?"  
"And nothing more." The blonde says with a smile. "Just played around with that Bacchus guy."  
"Hm.. Anyways. Not that we're all here, or at least...no, where's Aloysis?"  
Odin looks around a bit aimlessly. "I thought he was here? He left before us. I guess that means he didn't give you the update on Magnolia either?"  
Siegrain shakes his head. "I didn't receive anything."  
"Maybe he stopped somewhere." Correll says, shrugging.  
Just then, a loud explosion was heard from the main entrance to the council headquarters. "What was that!?"  
"Knock knock!" Kiora says as she continued firing off shadow make: lances each and every way, slamming them into walls and council guards alike. Seemingly endless were both the guards and the lances. The more guards that came, the more lances were fired, knocking them off of their feet and even piercing through most of them. She stops firing for a minute to let the next wave of council guards come around the corner. As a magic seal appears before her, she gives a whistle. "Cerberus! Here boy!" Though not the normal conjuring of the three headed shadow dog, Cerberus lunges out of the seal and wastes no time mauling the soldiers in front of him; sending the weak at heart panicking. Though the strong stayed and fought, their normal weapons had no effect on the three headed dog. Finishing off the rest of the wave, the hellhound now stalked the one remaining guard that began crawling away for his life. The three headed dog crouched, and then lunged towards the helpless guard. He let out a scream as the beast lunged towards him, but before Cerberus could land it's attack. A woman, about five feet, ten inches, comes sliding in front of the hellhound holding a giant shield. Cerberus rams head first into the shield, and begins whimpering as it shakes it's head vigorously, trying to shake out the grogginess. The bleach blonde haired mage stood tall in her council outfit, holding her shield in her right and her sword in her left. She stared down the shadow make mage and pointed her sword, causing Kiora to raise a brow.  
"And who might you be?"  
The council soldier glares for a bit longer. "You have no right to ask questions. You're trespassing, and you're now classified as a mass murderer and you're under arrest for both crimes. So the real question is. Who are you!?"  
Kiora begins to laugh. "Who am I you ask? Who am I? I am the hope of hell. The answer to all living things who cry out for death. I am the darkness in the light! I am decievement! Ally to evil, and a nightmare to you. I am.." A magic seal appears beside Kiora as a well sized serpent slithers out and coils around Kiora. Cerberus at this time, finally regains itself and now stood at attention to the right of Kiora. "I am Kiora, the Fatal Embodiment! And this is the last thing sight ever see!"  
The girl blinks a few times, stating at Kiora dumbfounded. "...Nice speech."

Siegrain and the captains continue to stand around, standing ready incase anything attacked. "What's going on!?" Siegrain yells. "Someone update me!"  
"Sir!" A random, bruised and battered up guard comes rushing down the hall panting. "It's...Tartaros! They've breached the council building! They're inside!"  
"Shit!" Siegrian immediately begins walking off at a fast pace. "Ultear, Odin, Correll! Spread out and make sure no one gets through! You two Lahar and Doranbolt!"  
"Right!" As all five of them take off in different directions, more explosions were heard from every direction, luring them to the sounds.

Down in the West Wing, A tall warrior, about eight feet tall with an iron mask stood over the rushing guards. He picks a couple up with his bare hands and begins squeezing on their heads until they stopped moving. The warrior takeover mage Hokori then throws the guards in his grasp into more incoming guards, knocking them over like bowling pins. He then turns his attention to the random pillars in the west wing and begins walking towards them while smacking away anyone in his way. Hokori then winds up and rears back a right fist. He slams it into the pillar, quickly breaking it into pieces. He does the same with a hard backhand to the pillar beside him and just like that, the ceiling starts to break from over the entire room. Following behind him.. "Here comes the..." Byron jumps out holding a giant hammer with two hands. He slams it down in the middle of the room, causing a huge explosion to take place, throwing the guards every which way if they weren't fried in the process. "Boom!"  
Byron then continues laughing as he and Hokori continue to break apart the council walls from their side.  
"Stop!" Coming to a sliding halt, Odin confronts the two Silent Sanctum mages. They both turn with a grin as they glare at the second captain.  
"Oi! What's this!?" Hokori reverts to his normal form as he lights a cigarette. "You're all the sent to stop us? You'll be dead before you know it council man."  
"Let me bring the hammer down on this clown." Byron says as he takes a few practice swings with his explosive hammer.  
Odin curls his lip as he fixes his gloves. He then slides off his council jacket. "You two have no idea who you're dealing with."  
"Oh?" Hokori grins as he exhales the smoke. "Please, tutor us."

Ultear ran down the hallway as explosion continued to happen down the East wing. She ducks her head as one explosion happens just above her head. She comes to a sliding stop as she spots a female at the end of the hallway.  
"Hello." Ruika says as she stands on top of a pile of guards, across from Ultear. "You must be here to stop me?"  
"More or less." Ultear says as she pulls out her time ark orb. "So, you gonna stand there or are you gonna show me your magic?"  
"Well if you insist." Ruika nonchalantly sits down on the pile of bodies, causing Ultear to raise a brow in confusion. Ruika then reaches to her ring of keys as she yawns. "Gate of the warrior. Open up. Orion." Out of a shining gate, the celestial warrior, Orion, appears. Before he could do his usual routine of carrying Ruika bridal style and confessing his love, the celestial mage gives him the evil eye and points vigorously. "I swear to god Orion, take another step and I'll leave your key here when this place comes down."  
With wide eyes, Orion bows. "Yes my love Ruika!"  
"Pushing it!"  
"A celestial mage?" Ultear looks on as she readies for combat. "This shouldn't be too hard then."  
Ruika chuckles as she watches on. Her head was propped up by her own hand. She gave Orion a "carry on" style of wave.  
"Go ahead Orion. Kill her. And destroy everything around you as well."

In the south wing, the young blonde haired mage began running through the collapsing hallways. Quickly losing his jacket, the now shirtless Correll begins sliding and flipping over broken and tossed around pillars and walls until he came to a sliding stop to turn the corner. As he did so, he was immediately attacked. A fireball slammed into Correll's sternum, lifting him off his feet as he hit the wall. Trying to make his way to his feet, Correll began to cough profusely as a grey smoke covered some of the room. Now appearing, was Myou and Tobias. Tobias began to laugh as Myou stood there staring at the young captain. Correll tries to move forward, but his body wouldn't let him. "What is...?"  
"My smoke attacks the body, stalling the nerves. Just long enough to let me torture my victim." Myou recited her words in an emotionless tone as she walked towards Correll. She stood in front of him, and backhanded the captain. The force of the backhand sent Correll flying into and through the wall. Still unable to really move, Correll twitched about as his lunges began to take in the fresh air since he was no longer in the same room. The second he makes it to his feet though, Tobias meets the mage with a magic seal right in front of him. Out of the seal, spouts a wave of rushing water that quickly filled the room. The rapid currents slammed Correll around and about until he slammed back first into another wall, breaking it. Fortunately for him, the water began to drain due to the hole in the wall. Corell gasped for air as the two mages stalked him once again.  
"Correll right? I thought you were supposed to be the young hot shot?" Tobias said as he began laughing.  
Correll lunged forward quickly and threw a right glowing fists, but Myou catches it with ease. She then emits a red smoke around Correll quickly. In the next second, it explodes, causing Correll to let out a yell as he goes tumbling backwards, now on one knee as he looked up at the stalking mages.  
"I guess you had a good run as a council man." Tobias says as he raises a palm, creating a magic seal.  
"But that ends here."

Seigrain quickly makes his way out of the council building, by walking through the North eastern wing. He stepped lively to the closest chariot. He steps were soon halted as Daityas stepped from behind the wagon with a menacing grin. Siegrain curled his lip at the demon slayer. "Daityas."  
"Oh no... No need for formal greetings you know good, two timing piece of shit."  
Daityas begins to take steps toward the magic council leader. The blue haired wizard saint counteracted with the same pace of backwards steps. "Oh? Retreating like the coward you are? Come on Seigrain I only want to talk."  
"Then talk to us." Doranbolt and Lahar appear in between Siegrain and Daityas in a fighting position. "Sir Seigrain, we'll take it from here. Get to safety." Lahar suggested. Siegrain had no problem following those orders as he began heading to the carriage over to his right.  
"Heh... Not so fast." Behind the carriage that Siegrain was now heading to, Arcturus stepped out. He began walking past the frozen council leader as he made his way towards an equally frozen Lahar and Doranbolt.  
"A-a-...Arcturus!?" Lahar and Doranbolt had on expressions of those that have seen a ghost.  
"The one and only." The darkness demon slayer grins as he stands next to Daityas. "Daityas, go handle your business, I'll take care of these two."  
Daityas grins. "That boy Tobias saw all of this coming. Do your thing Arc." Daityas begins to walk towards Siegrain. Seigrain begins to take off his jacket as if he was getting ready for a fight. He waited for Daityas to be near feet away before his body began to glow.  
"Shit!" Dait began to sprint towards the wizard saint but it was too late. "Meteor!" In a light of heavenly magic, Siegrain takes off into the air... He was soon halted; as another heavenly body knocks him clear out the air with a haymaker. Siegrain hits the ground face first. As he struggles to his knees, he looks up to see Aloy now in front of him. "Aloy...!"  
"You're a fool for trusting a dark mage. Former or current." Aloy grins as he begins walking to Lahar and and Doranbolt to give Arc the backup that he doesn't need.  
Siegrain tries to scramble away once again, but before he could take off, Daityas grabs him by the back of his collar and slams him down. With hells flames wrapped around his right fist, he slams a clean hook into Siegrain's jaw. The Bluenette spits out a couple spools of blood. "You thought you could betray me!? And live? You're more insane than me. I- hold on a second. We have to do this inside like Tobias said." Daityas gets up. He the. Holds Siegrain by the back of his head and slams him into the ground. He then proceeds to drag him back inside the council building, keeping his face planted in the ground as he forcefully caused it to bring up the ground on the way back to the building.

"Come on Siegrain...

We're gonna have a little talk."


	53. Chapter 53

White Eclipse  
Chapter 53

Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Happy all arrived at Fairy Tail. Having been there for minutes already, conversation about Tartaros was already sparked and quickly within depth.  
"Well..." Makarov says as he exhales from the exhaustion of hearing about the famous dark guild. "They're coming alive. It's starting to look inevitable."  
"Master.." Erza looked upon Makarov, feeling uneasiness as she hears the doubt in his voice. Makarov grins however. "Don't worry. They'll slip up. One of them will slip, and that'll give us the opening we need. I hope you all realize how heavy this situation is though. How much this country, now this world relies on you all. This is the so called perk of being one of the strongest guilds in Fiore."  
Levy sat behind the standing Makarov, books piled high as she read through them at a high speed with her glasses. Searching for any clues about Tartaros from the old books, she then pulled her glasses away as she sighed in exhaustion. "Nothing. For such a strong and well known dark guild, there's barely any information on them. I just don't understand it. There's more information on the Book of Zeref than these guys, and that's saying something."  
Laxus, who was leaning against the bar in front of Mirajane, gave a shrug. "We don't need any information besides where to find them."  
Mirajane then politely interjects.  
"But it would be nice to know what you're up against. They aren't regular mages. This is plenty different than anything we've fought. I would put these guys up there with Acnologia."  
"Come on Mira!" Natsu says. "I wouldn't put them that high, Acnologia dominated us."  
"...And what are these guys doing?" Mirajane asked rhetorically, causing Natsu to hang his head a bit, knowing she was right. "We had two lucky breaks against them. A third time seems unlikely."  
Juvia stood next to Gray, uninvited to stand so close of course. "Juvia thinks that Fairy Tail should at least take some kind of offensive against Tartaros, before they get us. I can't bare thinking of what would happen if they hurt Gray-Sama or anyone else."  
Gray begins to slowly inch away as he spoke. "She's right though, we need some kind of attack and soon. They're playing with us."  
"We also need to stop talking as if we can handle this alone." Erza says as she folds her arms.  
"What do you mean?" Elfman asked. "A man knows that we all have each other. And we fight together, we fight like a man!" Elfman's statement caused Natsu and Happy to shout in excitement with a fist in the air.  
"That's not what I meant." Erza curls her lip at her own thoughts. "We need...them. It's undeniable."  
"No!" Gray knew exactly where Erza was headed with her statement. "We've never needed their help, they've forced their way into our fights! That's different."  
"And every time it was a blessing in disguise, Gray. So, I think we should hold a meeting with White Eclipse."  
Makarov nods. "I agree."  
"Master!" Gray looked on in shock.  
"They've put a lot of stress on me these past few meetings, but they're the best we have right now."  
"I can talk to them!" Lisanna says as she makes her presence known. "We need a voice from someone who hasn't fought with them. Just to set up the meeting."  
"Good idea Lisanna!" Wendy says as she stood next to Charla, smiling.  
"It's settled then." Makarov nods once again.  
Gajeel then stood up, next to the seated Levy. "I can't wait. Gihe! I want to thrash these guys so bad!" Gajeel then forms his fists into iron poles as he crosses them like an X. "I'm going to give whoever's in my way the beating of a lifetime." Gajeel continued grinning until he immediately stopped. He stopped because from the ceiling, a bright orange and red drop of liquid fell, and landed on his right arm, singeing right into the middle. He let out a quick yelp of pain as he reverts his arm back to normal, trying to shake off the liquid.  
"Gajeel?" Levy looks at the Iron Dragon in confusion, as does everyone else in small radius. As another drop falls, Levy looks up along with Gajeel and everyone else. The drop that fell singes through the floor.  
Gajeel's eyes widen as he catches on. "Shrimp!" Quickly adding on his iron scales, Gajeel towers over Levy to cover her up entirely as a huge funnel of lava comes crashing through the ceiling like a vortex. The impact covers Gajeel and Levy completely, and the impact of the lava touching down sends anyone around them flying and sliding back. Everyone looked on wide eyed until the vortex came to a stop. "Gajeel! Levy!" Erza called out for them both. Under Gajeel's unconscious body, was a whimpering solid script mage. She continuously shook the unresponsive mage. "Gajeel... Gajeel! Wake up!"  
"Ah man. Excuse the entrance mates. I thought it'd have more pizazz than that." From the lava around on the floor, Maggie appears as with a grin on her face. The white haired female looked around a bit.  
"You!" Natsu growled out as Maggie tools form.  
"Me?" Maggie asked sarcastically, pointing a finger to herself.  
Not wasting anytime, Laxus opens his mouth, firing a Roar of the Lightning Dragon toward the "unsuspecting mage, but before contact, a giant figure steps in, taking the blow, but even before the giant figure took the blow an inhaling sound was heard, as Mithril began sucking in the lightning. The  
Abnormally tall "man" grinned at Laxus as he wiped his chin. "Not gonna lie. That was the worst lightning ever. Have it back." And with that, Mirhril fires off a lightning roar of his own. The funnel was huge, about three times the size of what Laxus fired. As it made it's way to Laxus, the roar literally uprooted and destroyed everything in it's path. An entire third of the guild was gone in an instant.  
At first Laxus elected to dodge, but as he took his first step to the right, his eyes widen as he realized who was behind him. He quickly shifts all of his momentum back and slides in front of the wide open Mirajane with his arms out. He then let out a loud agonizing yell as the roar hit him square on.  
"Laxus!" Wendy yelled as she watched the dragon slayer fall near seemingly lifelessly to the ground. She began to run over to heal the mage, but before she could take her first step, someone grabs her by the wrist. She turns to see a smiling pink haired Sora. "You're pretty. Lets play together!"  
"Huh?" Wendy was caught in a small trance as she stared into Sora's big blue eyes in a mixture of confusion and shock. Though her blue eyes were as clear as the ocean and inviting, the deeper she stared, the scarier and more evil they seemed. As Wendy stood staring at Sora, frozen, her own shadow began to rise from behind her.  
"Wendy! Get away from her!" Gray yelled as he leaped over a table, rushing towards them both. But it was too late. As Wendy turned around, her shadow sends her flying, and slamming against the ceiling with a Sky Dragon's wing slash. Wendy hit her head and falls helplessly back down.  
"Wendy!" Charla yelled out as the chaos continues. Gray slammed a fist into his open palm, creating an icy aura around him. "Ice make:-" before he could finish, three of Sora's shadow puppets appear. Two of them go their separate ways as the one in the middle jabs it's crimson fingertips into Grays abdomen. It then swings Gray into the air. Meeting the ice maker at the peak of his ascension. The puppet then throws down a vertical claw, slamming the attack against Gray's head as he goes falling to the ground. The impact breaks the floor from under him, sending Fullbuster into the basement floor violently.  
"Gray-Sama!" Juvia runs towards Gray, only to have a lava whip wrap around her neck. Due to her being made of water, not only did she begin to choke from the constriction, but oddly, her neck and shoulders began to boil slowly from the heat of the lava whip. Juvia falls to her knees as her lips parted, trying to scream in pain but the fact she was choking was the only thing holding her back.  
"Juvia!" Erza quickly requipped into her flame empress armor and flew directly towards Maggie, only to be cut off by Mithril. The giant swings a lightning infused kick that slams right into Erza's stomach. She was lucky to be able to quickly requip to her lightning empress armor to cushion the damage of the lightning, but the kick itself sent her flying into the far wall as she sat there, conscious, but hurt to where she couldn't move so suddenly.  
Natsu at this time, charges Mithril, leaving Lucy and Lisanna standing back to back as the two other shadow puppets cornered them. Natsu reared back a fiery right fist, and swings it at an alert Mithril. Mithril turns and meets his fist with one of his own. The lightning and flames collide for a dangerous shockwave that breaks apart anything in a small radius around them. Mithril then opens his fist and grabs the flamed right fist of Natsu, nearly unphased by the flames. "What the-" was Natsu's last words between them as Mithril yanked Natsu towards him and slung a lightning infused haymaker into the dragon slayer's skull. Instant knock out, but the worse has yet to happen as Mithril hung onto Natsu's arm. Normally, Natsu would of went flying from the attack due to the force, but instead, the Lightning Dragon held on and slung Natsu around like a rag doll, slamming him into the ground three times before tossing him through a wall and out of the guild.  
"ENOUGH!" The old man yells as he throws off his robe. Makarov then grows in size as he towers over even Mithril. "You will all be severely punished for your actions!" Makarov the begins to rear back a fist, looking directly at the sadistically smiling Maggie.  
"I wouldn't do that if I was you." Said a childish voice from behind. Makarov and the other mages turn around to see Jikan Calium standing next to Erza. He held a hand over the scarlet haired mage as a white magic seal appeared over her head. She was unable to move due to it. Erza then...began to age at a rapid pace. At first unnoticeable due to her youthful features, after a good twenty seconds of silence, wrinkles began to form on the mages face.  
"What are you doing to her!?" The wizard saint yelled out.  
"She aging. Dying." Jikan said as he smiled. "Now, shrink back down to size or she'll die from old age."  
Not giving it a second thought, Makarov quickly shrunk back to his normal size.  
"Good old man." Jikan then releases his spell, causing Erza to fall over. She slowly began to revert back to her age since the spell wasn't completed. Jikan then boldly walks past Makarov as he makes his way to the middle of the guild. Now, Maggie, Sora, and Mithril joined the master of Silent Sanctum in the middle as Maggie let go of Juvia.  
"Juvia!" Cana yells out as she grabs her, cradling the mage. She pulled down the collar to her jacket a bit to see the scolding marks around her neck and shoulders. "You monsters!" The card mage yelled out.  
"Monsters? Like beast?" The time mage Jikan asked rhetorically. "We have a beast. Mithril, show them what a beast can do.  
Mithril smirks as he releases a bright white-ish yellow magic circle from under him. He then gives a toothy grin as a dome of lightning covers him and the dark mages. The dome then expands out, uprooting the entire floor, destroying every pillar and wall. The ceiling quickly comes crashing down. Electrified as well, every fairy tail mage was violently pushed out of the guild as he collapses with ease. Standing in the middle of the rubble, unharmed, the dark mages looked around at what used to be. Also standing unharmed, yet scared frozen, was Lisanna. She was inside the magic seal when the chaos happened. "I love when a plan comes together." Jikan says as he grins towards Lisanna.  
Lisanna backed away from the mages as she looked around at the fallen mages.  
Elfman, who was laying face first in the ground, struggles to look up, seeing his little sister being cornered. "L-Lisanna...! Run..." He reaches out for her even though he was no where near her.  
"Nii-san..." Lisanna looks over at her collapsing brother. She then takes a step back, only to run into another mage. The green haired dimensional mage Rugal stood behind her. She turned around slowly to the grinning mage. Lisanna then let out a scream as Elfman looked back up. The last he saw before blacking out, was Lisanna being dragged against her will into a portal as the mages leave Fairy Tail. "L-Lisanna..!"

Ultear began backing away, on he defensive as Orion pursued her with his sword, swinging every which way in hopes to make contact with the time ark mage. Ultear then rolls away from a vertical strike as she then fires off a multitude of orbs towards Orion. "Luminous minutes!" Orion covers up as the orbs fire towards him like light beams, slamming into him. As the smoke clears, Orion stood with minimal scratches on him. "Tch...strong spirit."  
Ruika gives an uninterested huff as she raises another key. "You need help it seems. So... Gate of the Eagle, Aquila." From his gate out pops a dark skinned humanoid with brown eagle wings and a sword. Instead of speaking like every other spirit, Aquila turns to give Ruika a transition of hand signs that she understands perfectly. Ruika then points at Ultear who was watching carefully. Aquila then turns to the council's First Lady, and holds his sword out to the side. As the humanoid did so, his sword extends to a great length until it plunged into the far wall. He then swung the sword horizontally towards Ultear. The sword easily breaks apart the wall on it's way to his main target. Ultear rolls out the way to avoid the sword, but she rolls right into Orion who slams a kick into her gut, sending her tumbling backwards until she came to a rolling stop, holding her stomach. Before Ultear could react, Aquila's sword extends again, this time through the ceiling as he swings it vertically. Ultear desperately dives out of the way of the vertical slice. Once again, Orion cuts her off as he slams a stomp to the diving Ultear. He goes for another, but Ultear quickly leaps back to gain space. Now panting heavily, the ticked off time mage placed a fist into her open palm as a frosty aura emitted from her hands. "Ice make.."  
"I thought you were a time mage?"  
"Rosen Krone!" Ultear slams her hand down as a garden of thorns and roses arise, slamming into Orion. Aquila dodges by taking flight towards the hole he made in the ceiling. Though taking heavy damage, Orion was still raring to go.  
"What's it gonna take!?" Ultear says as she continues to pant heavily.  
"Orion." The warrior turns to Ruika and quickly bows to her. "Yes, Ruika my one and only!"  
"Go back to your gate."  
Without an arguement, Orion salutes and disappears in a golden light. Ruika then holds up another key as it shines. "Gate of the Dragon. Drago."  
Out of the gate, another humanoid, this time resembling a dragon, appears. He stood next to Aquila, staring down Ultear.  
"That's fine! They'll all fall!" She yells as she re enters her ice make stance. "Ice make: bloom!" She fires off another variety of her ice make technique, a different style of ice roses and thorns arise from the ground around Drago as Aquila evades once again. Surrounded, Drago simply holds out his arms to the side. With the flex of his arms, fire arises from the ground, immediately melting the ice into nothing.  
"What!?" The time ark mage looked on in complete shock.  
"Drago, burn this entire wing down." Ruika says as she begins to swing her feet, still sitting on the pile of bodies.  
Drago nods, then grins, and then begins to slowly raise his arms up into the air. As his arms rose, so did the flames as they violently shot out everywhere. With no where to go, Ultear lets out a loud yell as the flames overtake her and the entire wing.

"Meteor.." Aloysis's body is overcome with a golden aura as he grins at Doranbolt. Immediately, they both "disappear" as Doranbolt uses his magic to phase around. Aloysis keeps up easily however and the two exchange blows around Arc and Lahar who have yet to move. Doranbolt was giving it everything he had with each attack, while Aloy continued to grin as he nonchalantly parried everything thrown at him. Doranbolt threw a right hook, but Aloysis sways his head away from it with minimal movement. He the then slams a knee into Doranbolts stomach and holds it there as the councilman hunches over from the blow. Aloysis then holds Doranbolt up, and behind to fire rapid punches to the mage with little effort. His jabs felt like haymakers as Doranbolt would continuously float in and out of consciousness from each hit.  
Back on the ground, the darkness demon slayer finally makes a move after waiting, firing off a wave of darkness magic towards Lahar. Lahar quickly creates a wall of runes in front of him that blocks the wave, but as he did so, Arc quickly makes his way around them, slamming a kick into then ribs of Lahar. Lahar hunches to the side from the blow. Arc then wraps darkness magic around both of his fists and crouches a bit. He then continuously slams short darkness infused uppercuts to the stomach of Lahar. Though taking a beating, Lahar was able to pull a miracle as he slaps a palm against Arcturus's chest, creating a binding style of ruins. The bind restricts Arc's movements as he stops punching. After catching his breath, Lahar takes no chances and creates a box of runes around Arcturus to keep him confined. Feeling like he's won, Lahar grins a bit as he pants, but Arc begins to laugh as he grips the binding spell around him. Lahar watches with wide eyes as Arc literally pulls the binding off of him, breaking it into nothing. Arc then takes a step forward, and then slams a headbutt against the wall of the runes. After two seconds, the wall cracks and then breaks into nothing.  
"I-impossible! Runes can't be broken..!"  
"What did I just do then?" Arc grins as he then puffs out his cheeks a bit. "Howl...of the Darkness demon." Lahar puts up another wall of runes, but Arc fires anyways, his howl shattering through the wall like nothing as it slams into Lahar, engulfing him and pushing him out into the horizon, no longer to be seen. Arc watches him go, and then turns to Aloysis.  
"Let's wrap this up.."

"I have an uneasy feeling..." Adamantine stood in the corner of the room as White Eclipse stood or sat around the inn's main room with their master, Calium. "Something is off, and I feel like we'll find out sooner or later."  
"Relax a bit Adam, you're creeping us out." Kairi says as she plops down into a chair, now sitting between Heather and Selene.  
"I don't know." Heather says as she squints at Adam. "You know animals have better senses than humans. And Adam's a dragon, the animal of animals."  
"Point taken." Selene adds. "We Dragon slayers have a heightened sense of smell, so who knows that Adam can sense since he's the real deal."  
"Can we stop talking about me like I'm some beast being monitored?" The Ice Dragon scoffs as he averts his eyes to a random spot on the wall.  
"Anyways." Luke interrupts. "We need a plan about Tartaros. It's evident that we won't survive such attacks if they keep coming."  
"Can we hold out on talking about Tartaros?" Skye asked as she rubbed her bandaged torso. "Every time you say that name I can feel my wound throbbing in pain."  
"Tartaros." Cygnus says with a grin, causing Skye to wince. "Stop!"  
Kairi begins to laugh as she joins on the mental torture. "Tartaros!" She yells out as she stands over Skye, wiggling her fingers as if trying to be spooky. Skye winces again in pain as she kept her back against the wall. "You guys are...are..." Skye suddenly feels a painful sensation in her left shoulder. Kairi's eyes widen as she backs away from the requip mage. Skye slowly looks down as she sees a long, crimson tripped sharp finger pierced through her shoulder. She then cries out in a mix of fear in pain as the finger pulls out of the shoulder. Everyone turns in her direction. "Skye!?" Zalen looks over to see her scrambling to her feet and run towards the middle of the group. She held her wound as everyone looks at her and Kuro in confusion. Before either one could speak, a loud crash happens through the roof as Mithril appears right in front of Adamantine. In shock and off guard, Adam gawked at Mithril as he quickly grinned. "Hey, 'brother.' "  
"Mithril!" Before Adamantine could move, Mithril slammed a heavy lightning infused right hook to the Ice dragon's nose. Adam slides back from the blow, right into a now open portal that closes right behind him.  
"Adam!" Luke turns his attention to Mithril, but before he could move, two lava whips wrap around his wrists. "Hold on there love. Don't run off too quickly." Maggie now stood behind Luke as she began to burn his skin with her lava. After a bit of a struggle, Luke created a fiery aura around him to soften the burning. He then began to pull Maggie towards him. Maggie played along, and slid towards the copy mage as he pulled, and once less than a foot away, she popped open her mouth. "Ash fall." A gray magic seal appears before her as she fires off a ball of ash. Slamming into his chest, the ball of ash explodes against Luke on impact. Out of the smoke, a semi conscious Luke falls backwards through a table and lays there. That was enough for Heather as she quickly lunged toward Maggie with a right fist reared back. She slams it against, or rather through Maggie's right shoulder. The lava mage laughs as her shoulder reforms back to normal. "Nice try, now go sit down." Maggie then fires off a funnel of lava with her right hand. Heather quickly counteracts with a quick poison dragon's roar. The lava quickly over takes the roar and then slams into Heather, sending her into the wall.  
Taya ran towards Maggie only to have her own shadow appear behind her and tripping her. As she turned around, her shadow stood with Sora as the little girl looked down at the dark vector mage. Sora pointed at her with an evil look. "You left us."  
"S-Sora."  
"TRAITOR!" Sora yelled as Taya's shadow conjured up dark vectors from underneath Taya, violently tossing her around.  
Mithril turns and fires off a huge Lightning Roar, slowly spinning as he fired. As the mages dove out of the way, the roar levels the entire inn and even some of the building around it as it powers out of the inn from it's sheer force. As the inn collapses, the mages make it out safely. Sidney dropped the hurt Luke as he appeared from his room at the last second. Beside him was an enraged Calium. "It seems you all want punishment." Calium says as he claps his palms together and then slightly separates them. Four towers now surround the dark mages; two made of light and two made of dark magic.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, old man."  
Calium's ears perk up as the kid walks into view. "Dispel that Calium, if you know what's good for your brats.  
His eyes widen. He then narrows them as he looked upon the young boy. "What are you doing here?"  
"I could ask you the same thing, Gramps."  
"Gramps?" Sidney looks over at Calium, who has yet to take his eyes off of Jikan.  
"I thought you would of croaked by now, but I'm actually glad to see you okay old man. It allows me the honor to ending you."  
"Why are you still so young?" Calium asked.  
"Oh...pardon me. Let me fix that." Everyone watched Jikan as he pulled out is pocket watch. He swung it back and forth as a magic seal appeared under him. In a flash, the young boy grew into a young man, with the appearance of someone in their thirties.  
"...You look just like your father." Calium says to the now lightly bearded time mage. Jikan narrows his eyes at the comment. "Don't ever compare me to him, or yourself. As leader of Silent Sanctum, we've come here to borrow someone. You'll get her back if you can survive Tartaros castle."  
"What!?" Calium stood in confusion. Jikan on the other hand, expanded a clear magic seal from the ground. He then grins as everything and everyone freezes except for him and the dark mages he came with.  
With that, Rugal grabs the frozen in time Skye Ravenwood, and opens a portal. Tossing the requip mage in, Rugal then stands aside as Mithril pulls Adamantine out, throwing the giant into the ground with ease. Though everyone was "frozen," they could see exactly what was going on. Upon watching, Sidney's body begins to twitch as the SS class mage tries to fight against time itself.  
"Hey, you two, he's all yours. You said you wanted to give him a message." Jikan says as he faced the portal. Though it seemed like he was talking to no one, out of the portal appeared two mages; one male and one female and older looking. On their opposite arms was the Silent Sanctum symbol. They both oddly resembled Luke Cloud himself, the man a bit taller with brown hair, nearly the same style as Luke's. The woman was a bit shorter, with black hair, about medium length. The two mages walked over to the frozen copy cat. The frozen, yet aware mage looked on as the woman bent down to his eye level, gently grabbing his chin.  
"Well looks who's gotten all big and strong!" The woman says, scrunching up her face at the copy cat. "And by strong I don't mean magic wise. I had expected you to be trouble when they attacked just now, but here you are, on the ground."  
"The man that resembled Luke then walks over, still standing as he looks down." My my. It's like a spitting image, in looks that is. We've been watching you closely, /son/. We aren't impressed. But hey!"  
The man then crouches down as he looks eye to eye with the frozen mage. "Tartaros is having a party later today. And you're invited. If you survive your mother's next attack that is."  
"Don't be late my baby boy." The woman and man then stand, and begin walking away back towards the portal with everyone else. As they did, the female mage formed a black ball in her right hand. "Black God's bomb." She then tossed it in the air over her shoulder. Both of them walk through the portal, Jikan steps through behind them, the portal closing as well. Jikan leaving the area, caused time to return to normal and a second after it did so, the black god's bomb landed and exploded on impact...the radius of the bomb's explosion covering about a third of the city.

"Come on Layanna get it together!" The bleach blonde council soldier was down to a knee with her sword and shield holding her up. She made her way back to her feet as Cerberus and Ourobouros stalk her by circling around her slowly.  
"So are you gonna give up and let my babies eat you, or are you still trying to give a futile effort to save your own life? Either way I'm on a right schedule and now they're gonna have to take you in a to go box and devour you later."  
Layanna makes her way to her feet and points her blade at Kiora, letting her know that she wasn't going to just quit. Kiora merely shook her head. "It was your funeral either way." She snapped her fingers, and both of her shadowed beasts charged the council soldier alternatively. Cerberus rammed shoulder first into the shield that Layanna held, sliding her backwards a good bit. Cerberus's strength was more than enough to keep her occupied as Ourobouros quickly wrapped it's body around her, slowly squeezing the life out of her. Grinning, Kiora begins walking toward Layanna as she dropped her weapons due to having the breath squeezed out of her. Kiora grabs Layanna by the hair and lifts her head to the barely breathing soldier. "Pathetic, not gonna lie. It seems they hire whoever signs up here." With that, Kiora snaps her fingers twice and points to the dead end wall of the wing. Cerberus charges and pounces, knocking the wall down with it's strength. As Ourobouros lets go of Layanna, is slithers behind Kiora as she walks out of the hole in the wall. "Ourobouros, redecorate please."  
The cosmic snake turns around on command and pops it's jaw open. From it's throat, a beam of raw magic begins to form. Then, seconds later, the giant snake fires off a massive beam of magic, uprooting and destroying the entire wing in one blow, sweeping Layanna away in the process.

"Titans fist!" Through a magic seal, Correll fires a right hook that expanded five times it's size, increasing it's strength. It slams into Myou, and even though she began sliding back, she stood emotionless and unphased from the attack. Correll looked on with wide eyes as Tobias slid beside him with a grin. Two small red magic circles appear in front of Tobias as he begins to thrust his arms forward repeatedly. Out of the seal, fireballs about the size of softballs began crashing into and around Correll as the blonde haired mage tried to cover up to reduce the pain. Swept off his feet, Correll couldn't do a thing as Tobias continued to project the fire balls, attacking Correll all over. Tobias finally stops, and after a few seconds, the brutally injured Correll looks up to see that Tobias was no longer there. The kid was so knocked off his senses that he forgot he was fighting a two on one and clearly dismissed the quiet Myou. And just then, Myou slammed a powerful front kick to Correll's temple, slamming his head against the unforgiving wall next to him. He instantly blacked out.  
"Heh...you're not bad Myou." Tobias said as he appeared at the exit. "Now destroy this wing so we can wait on the others."  
Myou stared at Tobias for a bit. Though an emotionless look, she stared because she felt like Tobias was giving her orders. The feeling made Tobias a bit uneasy as he raised a brow. She followed through with the orders anyways as red smoke began to flow out of her hands as she skipped out of the room. Tobias didn't have time to give her another look of confusion since he knew what was coming, so he exited the wing first. Myou skipped out right behind him and then slid into a turn. She then held out an open palm, and gripped it into a fist. The last thing that was heard in that area was a massive explosion...and cries of agony from Correll.

He hears the chaos going on from up above. As the lights flicker on and off, so does the magic power in the lower floors. The crystal that trapped him and the other criminals begins to dissipate. When his completely vanishes, he stands. Flashing a smile, he walks towards the staircase. "I hear them...my fellow dark mages. Tartaros is always a lively bunch when active. It's a great sound."

.  
"Oxygen Depletion!" Odin holds out his hand as a white magic circle appears. The magic seal now begins to visibly suck out the oxygen in the room. As this happens, Hokori just stands there as he breathes in another puff of his cigarette. "I've been destroying my lungs man. Your magic is useless to me."  
Beside him, Byron begins to comically turn blue in the face. "Lucky you."  
Snapping out of it, Byron throws his explosive hammer towards Odin. The captain ducks, but the hammer slams against the wall, causing an explosion behind the captain that pushes him forward. At this time,  
Hokori quickly performs another taker over of his. He appears as the same height as he held a double edged sword in his right hand. He wore a red robe that went down to his ankles and back boots. His takeover finished with a black mask covering his face.  
He began to swing his sword in a rhythmic fashion as Odin did his best to stay away from the blades. Off balance, Odin stumbled backwards, giving Hokori an opening. "Mine." The take over mage says as he slashes a diagonal strike right against Odin's chest, cutting a deep wound right into his chest. The captain quickly falls to his back as he held his chest to try and stop the bleeding. He tried to get up, but fell to his back once again.  
"Don't worry old guy. The pain will stop soon." Hokori smirks as he once again reverts to his own form. He then looks at Byron and then nods. Byron nods back, and then picks up his explosive hammer. He then began to walk around the room and slam his hammer against the walls. No explosion happened yet, but with each hit against the wall, Byron's hammer left a magic seal. He finally finished his lap around the room as he and Hokori walk out of the wing. Seconds later, the magic seals begin to glow. They then all explode simultaneously, completely destroying the room with Odin inside...

Siegrain goes crashing through a wall inside the council building. He lays down face first as he pants heavily. He tries to make his way to his feet, but Daityas helps him instead by grabbing the back of his collar and forcing him upward. The demon slayer doesn't say a word, just grins, and then headbutts the magic council leader. Siegrain's head snaps backwards, but then his body quickly glows a golden aura as he slams one back. It was the fact that he caught Daityas off guard that made the demon slayer release him and grab his head. "Gotta little fight in you huh?" Daityas asked as he looked upon the heavily damaged Siegrain. Daityas then fires off a random wave of Hells Flames. Siegrain quickly counters with a wave of Heavenly body magic. The two waves meet in the middle for a violent stalemate, breaking the room apart as the walls around them begin to come undone. The building was falling apart. Daityas looks around with a grin. "Seems everyone is done. You're the last one I'm sure."  
Siegrain bares his teeth as he quickly gets into a stance. "Serma!"  
"Not so fast!" Daityas quickly rushes the bluenetter before he could get the attack off, shoving a Hell's Flames infused fist into his gut. As Daityas followed through, Siegrain slams through the ceiling against his will. Daityas quickly follows him, entering the council meeting room, where the magic circle that used to hold the council members once stood. "You don't know what you're doing..." Siegrain says as he struggles to his feet once again.  
"I'm breaking apart your precious building." Daityas says as he smirks. "You brought this on yourself kid. I freed you from Jellal's mind, and you repay me by betraying Tartaros out of all people? No sir. Burn in hells flames." Siegrain gives out a yell as he gives one last effort, rushing towards Daityas in his meteor state. He swings a right fist but Daityas sways away from it and simultaneously grabs him by the throat. Siegrain tries to pull out of the mage's grip but to no avail. "I wonder how far of a drop that whole is." Daityas says as he looks over at the hole where the council magic seal used to be. He then turns back to Siegrain with a toothy smile, and slams a right fist repeatedly into Seigrain's head. He was passed out on the second hit, but Daityas was now just getting shots in to release his anger at the wizard saint. Daityas then begins walking towards the giant hole, and tosses Siegrain in. He watches his near lifeless body fall into the pitch black, and then walked away. Before he left the room, Daityas snapped his fingers, and from the hole, a massive uproar of hells flames shot out and through the ceiling. Not a single sound was heard from Siegrain as Daityas leaves the room and took a right, entering another room. "Now, one more thing before leaving."

He gripped the dirt as he came too. He was the last one to. Everyone else stood around, waiting. Broken and bruised, all of Fairy Tail sat around with glum and angered faces. Laxus was gravely injured, Natsu was still bleeding from the mouth, not bothering to wipe it. Wendy was cut up from her own technique. Erza was still trying to get her joints to catch back up with her current age. Gajeel was sitting down, being tended to by Pantherlily and a teary eyed Levy, who just gave up and hugged him. Juvia began weeping as she stared at the scolding marks on her body. Gray did his best to comfort her as he winced from his own damages. They all stood around, waiting on Elfman to awaken. Mirajane and Makarov began to do a body count, yet they were interrupted by a loud yell of frustration from none other than Natsu himself. "WE CANT JUST STAND HERE!" He yelled out. Lucy looked up at the dragon slayer lost for words like nearly everyone else.  
"They got the jump on us..." Gray says as he holds on to the small of Juvia's back as she continued crying. "But we have not a clue where to find them.."  
"THATS NO LONGER AN EXCUSE!" Natsu screams out. He frantically looks around in anger. He finally picks a direction and begins running, only to be stopped by Makarov. "And where are you going!?"  
"To find them! We can't let them keep doing this!" Natsu walks around the old man and gets ready to take off again, only to have Makarov's hand grab him. "Sit down Natsu."  
Normally this would be the end of it all, but Natsu looked back at Makarov with an angered expression. "Let. Go."  
Everyone looked on at the situation, including Mirajane as she tried to wake Elfman to his senses.  
"Excuse me!? Don't you ever-"  
Before Makarov could finish his sentence, Natsu covered himself in flames, burning Makarov's hand and causing him to jump back. "Natsu!" Lucy yelled out, utterly surprised at his actions.  
"You listen to me Natsu! Take another step and you'll be immediately expelled from Fairy Tail! That's a promise!" Makarov stood bold on his statement as Natsu stopped walking.  
"...This isn't Fairy Tail." Natsu says without turning around, causing gasps all around.  
"What did you say...?" Makarov asked with an angered expression.  
"Fairy Tail wouldn't wait around to be slaughtered like animals. No matter what we knew or didn't know about our opponents." He took another step forward.  
"Natsu, I'm warning you!"  
"Natsu stop!" Lucy yelled out.  
"Don't be an idiot!" Gray added.  
"The Fairy Tail I was raised in wouldn't let their guild be destroyed without retaliation. Expel me if you want Gramps. Fairy Tail doesn't let anyone run them over. Where's your fight!? We've been attacked relentlessly over the days and we've yet to do anything about it... I don't know the mages behind me..." He then turns around with the same angered expression. "But they aren't Fairy Tail!"  
Everyone's face was in pure shock from his words. Makarov was the first to snap out of it as he saw Natsu begin running off. "Natsu! Last chance!"  
He kept running. Makarov then cupped his hands around his mouth. "Natsu Dragneel! Here are the three rules of leaving Fairy Tail!"  
"Master!" Erza yells out to the old man, but he continued.  
"One, you must never reveal any sensitive information about Fairy Tail to outsiders...as long as you live!"  
As Natsu ran over the horizon, a tear fell from his eye, but he carried on, out of hearing range of the mages. He finally stopped to catch his breath. He was then lifted into the air, by none other than his partner Happy, who was also tearing up as he continued on. "Happy..."  
"We go everywhere together..." Happy says as he continues flying on. "Just don't talk about it, and lets beat these guys together!"  
Tears fall from the he-cat as they flew on, waiting for Natsu to pick up a familiar scent.  
"He really left..." Lucy says as she begins to tear up again.  
"Happy too." Charla added as Wendy softly petted the top of her head.  
"He wouldn't really leave Fairy Tail.." Erza says. "He's just had enough of feeling useless.."  
Makarov faces away from his children. "It doesn't matter. He disobeyed me. And now he's paying for it.."  
"You can't be serious old man!" Gajeel yells. Makarov then points to the dragon slayer without turning around. "Do you wanna join him?"  
Gajeel growls a bit, but then slowly sits back down.  
By this time, Elfman began to fully awaken, holding his head. "Elfman!" Mirajane yells as she hugs her younger brother. Elfman groans as the damaged mage hugs her, which quickly reminded him. "Lisanna!" Elfman quickly stands and looks around. He then falls to his knees once more realizing what he saw was reality. "No... They took her!"  
"What!?" Mirajane quickly sprung up to look around. "Lisanna!? Lisanna!"  
Everyone else began to look around as well. "They didn't..." Erza began to frantically look around as well.  
Makarov stood with wide eyes. Mixed with anger and shock. "How dare they..."

"Takeru...Takeru... Get up."  
Selene shakes the shadow dragon awake as everyone stood around. Groaning as well, Takeru awakens and sits up. "Shit..."  
"What a drag." Jack says as he looks at his broken flask and then his bruises. Everyone was heavily damaged as they sat around.  
"It felt like a dream, more like a nightmare." Cygnus says as he leans against the wall hurt.  
"It was neither, it was real." Sidney says. "And Skye's been abducted."  
"Skye!" Aira calls out to the mage no longer present. "But why did they take her!?"  
"They have motives." Taya replied. "They're using us. And we now have no choice but to go along with what's coming?"  
"What are you saying Taya?" Heather asked.  
"Back when I was in Tartaros, there was this one annoying mage named Tobias. He would always talk tactics and plans. His favorite was using a hostage against a party to make them do what he wanted. Though he was annoying to even be around, he was near genius when it came to hostile like battle tactics. This is it...our final battles may be coming soon." Everyone puts on glum faces except Sidney as he tended to the wounded Calium. "Luke."  
"Huh?" Luke looked over at the Ace who called him.  
"Those two mages.."  
Luke swallowed and averted his eyes to the ground.  
"My parents..."  
"They talked about Tartaros castle. I guess that's where we have to head to." Heather says.  
"And you will.." Calium coughs out. "As soon as we recover and find out where to find it.  
"We don't have time for that! Skye is missing!" Nami yells.  
"Lower your voice towards me." Calium says as he finally stands.  
"Sorry, Master.."  
Before anyone could say anything else, a giant lacrima screen appears over Magnolia. Behind the screen was the face of the Hells Flame Demon Slayer himself Daityas, standing in a collapsing council building. The screen was big enough to be seen by exactly who he wanted to see it. "Greetings morons who oppose the inevitable. It is I, the leader of the dark guild Tartaros, Daityas. If you look behind me, you'll see a collapsing council headquarters. They are no longer in service. Whoops. Yes we did that. No one inside was spared. Oh and to Fairy Tail and White Eclipse, it seems we've taken a mage from each of your guilds. They won't last long. But I tell ya what. If you can beat us, you can have them back. How's that sound? Now I know you've been asking the age old question since day one, WHERE IS TARTAROS!?" Daityas then laughed in a mocking tone. "Well if you will all now casually look to your north..." Everyone looks in that direction as a rumbling begins, the quake was strong enough to knock a few off their feet as a giant castle about the size of a big city appears in the distance. The height of the castle touched the clouds themselves.  
"Now I don't mean to make it hard on you, but I didn't build this beauty okay? Anyways. I really should wrap this up. We'll see you mages at Tartaros Castle okay? You can't miss it, and if you do just follow the big ass tower in the middle of Fiore. Over and out." He laughs once again as the transmission ends.  
"They're inviting us in!?" Erza asked.  
"We have no choice! I'm going!" Elfman says.  
"Same here." Mirajane added.  
"We need to split into teams." Makarov adds.  
"One will attack Tartaros and save Lisanna. The rest of us will head to Magnolia. I feel like they aren't done there."

"So we all in agreement?" Calium asked as the scene switches back to White Eclipse.  
"Yeah!" The guild yelled in unison.  
"You sure you're gonna be okay without me?" Sidney asked Calium. The old man smiled. "You're not my keeper Sidney, go save the one who needs saving."  
Sidney nodded, and then turned to the guild members. "You know the drill, two teams. Ones attacking and one is here for protection.

"Happy!"  
"Max Speed!" The duo flew towards the rising castle full speed.

"This is it...

It's time to finish this..." Natsu says to himself as they fly at max speed to the castle.

"This is it.." Daityas says with excitement on his face.

"And we're just getting started.


	54. Chapter 54

White Eclipse  
Chapter 54

"So we're all clear here?" Sidney asked as he stood in a group with Takeru, Luke, Cygnus, Adam, Kairi, Zalen, Taya, Selene and Aira.  
"Loud and clear!" Aira shouts as she punches a fist into her open palm, letting a bit of her wind magic fluctuate.  
"Lets show them that they've missed with the wrong guild." Zalen says as he fixes his glasses.  
"I'm ready, amigo." Luke grins a bit as he stood next to Takeru who stayed quiet. Kairi and Selene stood next to each other quietly.  
"Lets get a move on." Taya says. "The longer we wait, the less chance we have of saving Skye."  
"Don't forget the entire world made be at stake too." Luke replies.  
"Skye first." Taya says as she places her hands on her hips, waiting impatiently to get a move on.  
"Alright." Calium says as he walks towards the group. "The rest of us will stay here to make sure nothing happens to the city."  
Jack gives a thumbs up to his guild mates. "You guys can handle it. We'll be here waiting for your return. Come back in one piece so we can celebrate with some booze."  
"Do it for Kuro!" Waiston shouted, as he and Jaxon held up a W in the air.  
"What Waiston said." Jaxon adds. "They need to know about the strongest guild on Fiore, and how you shouldn't mess with one of ours!"  
Sidney nods, and interjects before anyone else tried to give words of encouragement. "Alright, lets move out."  
"Right!" They yelled in unison.  
"Wait!" Selene exclaimed as she looked around.  
"What's wrong now?" Tayakata asked, a bit annoyed.  
"Where did Takeru go!?"  
Everyone looks around for the Shadow Dragon, seeing that he was no longer present.  
"He didn't... Okay lets go now! We have to catch up to the stubborn idiot!" Sidney yells as he running off towards the enormous castle. "Dammit Tak!" Selene grunts out as she and the others begin following Sidney. Luke begins to take off until someone grabs his wrist. He looks back to see Heather with her head lowered a bit. "Heather..?"  
"...Come back okay?" The poison dragon slayer whimpered out. Luke gives her a soft smile, then salutes. "I'll be back, amiga." He then continues running off to catch up with the group.

A good ways ahead, already nearing the castle, Takeru pops out of the ground and out of his shadow form. He continues running full speed towards Tartaros castle with a determined look on his face. "Me and you Daityas. Nothing's gonna stop me.  
"Hey! Takeru!"  
The shadow dragon slayer hears his name from the sky, and then looks up to see Natsu and Happy swooping down. Happy puts Natsu down as he begins to run beside Takeru with Happy flying beside them both. "It looks like I have help after all!" The Salamander says with a smile on his face.  
"Help? What, your guild didn't want to fight?"  
"I don't have a guild anymore." Natsu says as he drops his head a bit. He then quickly picks it back up. "What about yours?"  
Takeru smirks, ignoring Natsu's last comment. "They're on the way, I just ran ahead so I could get my hands on Daityas."  
"What!? I want Daityas!" Natsu protested.  
"Too bad!" Takeru yelled back. "Save the strongest for the strongest!"  
"I'm stronger! I beat you at the games!"  
"Fluke!"  
"What!?"  
"Why don't you both just take him out!?" Happy yells out. He was about to protest that idea too, but the Salamander remembered everything that was at stake here.  
Natsu finally calms down. He then holds out a hand. Takeru looks at it, then back at Natsu as Dragneel smiled once again. "Lets work together then, ne?"  
Takeru stared at his hand, and then swatted it away. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you. We aren't friends, we never will be, not even teammates or acquaintances. Get it through your head."  
Natsu blinks, then sighs a bit as both Dragon Slayers near Tartaros castle. "You look pretty beat up by the way."  
"I can say the same for you, Salamander."  
The landscape quickly changing from a grassland to a dried up ground, as if the area has been in a year long drought. Black clouds hovered over the entire area.  
"We're almost there!" Happy shouted.  
"Daityas!" Takeru and Natsu both shouted in unison. "You're mine!"

.

"They just left and I'm already worried." Levy says as the rest of Fairy Tail walk into Magnolia.  
"Don't worry Levy." Droy says as he walks beside her with Jet on the other side. "Gajeel and the others will be fine. If anyone can do it, it's them!"  
"Everything will be alright.." Makarov says as he continues walking, yet keeping a somber face. "They can do it."  
"Right!" Max says, still rotating the soreness out of his shoulder. "Until then, lets make sure nothing happens here!"  
Hearing the commotion between the guild heading towards them. Jack slowly stands back up from sitting on the sidewalk where the inn once stood. "They're here.."  
The rest of White Eclipse stood as the waited for Fairy Tail to come into view. Makarov put on a smile and gave his wave as they now stood across from each other; both masters. Calium gives a simple nod in return. He then looks at the remaining members of Fairy Tail. "So this is your defense? You really went for an all out attack didn't you?"  
"Didn't you do the same?" Makarov asked as he ignored what felt like a cheap shot to his guild. "Anyways, we should prepare ourselves just in case anything does happen here."  
"Way ahead of you old man." Jack says as continues to mess around with his broken flask, trying to put the pieces back together as if it was a simple puzzle. "We're already healed and ready to go."  
"So are we!" Romeo yells out with a clenched fist. "We won't let anyone through!"  
Jack raises a brow and then scoffs at the kid. "Right, boy wonder here is going to save us."  
"Jack, enough." Calium gave the Earth mage a stern look, and then turned back to Makarov. Before he could say anything, a rumbling begins to happen, causing Jack and the other White Eclipse members to jump up. "What now!? Another attack!?"  
"No.." Makarov says as a smile slowly creeps onto his face.  
"It's him!" Romeo shouts as the city, or what was left of it, begins to shift around.  
"It's who? What's going on?" Nami asked as she looked around, still in a bit of worry.  
"Gildarts."  
"Gildarts?" Waiston looks on as they now stood in the middle of the street. From the distance he saw him. Toting a bag over his shoulder, Gildarts walked into the city, making his way to the two guilds as he yawned. "Man I'm tired."  
"Gildarts!" Romeo yells as he runs towards the mage, jumping on him and hugging him.  
"Hm? Romeo, what are you doing in the city so..." Gildarts didn't finish his sentence since he now had his eyes open, looking around at the destruction that happened. "Oh, did I do this? I thought they moved the buildings out the way when I came home?"  
"Th-they move the city around!? Just for this guy!? What kind of monster is he?" Jaxon asked as he began to shake just a bit.  
"He's a monster alright." Max says as he nods to his own words. "Meet Gildarts, the Ace of Fairy Tail!"  
"So that's the Ace huh?" Jack says as he crosses his arms.  
"Don't let him fool you." Cana says as she folds her arms. "He's not all the way there."  
"Gildarts..." Romeo calls out for the mage as he looks around.  
"Yeah Romeo?"  
"You didn't do this.."  
"Oh? Then who did? Was it Natsu!? Man I'm impressed then!" The unaware ace began to laugh while rubbing the back of his head.  
"Gildarts!" Makarov yelled in a stern voice, causing the man to cease his laughing. "Hm? What's wrong Makarov? I'm sure we can pay for the damages after a few jobs-"  
"Natsu didn't do this!"  
"Oh? Then who-"  
"While you were gone, we've been relentlessly attacked by the strongest dark guild known as Tartaros. It would take a while to bring you up to speed, but just know that we've sent our best mages to that castle!" Makarov points behind him to show Gildarts the giant castle in the middle of Fiore.  
"Oh wow, that might take me a good ten minutes to destroy.."  
"Ten minutes!?" Jaxon freaks out again, this time with Waiston.  
"Who does this guy think he is!?"  
"That's not all Gildarts.." Makarov continues. "Lisanna has been taken hostage by them..."  
Everything becomes quiet as a lone wind blows against Gildarts. He allows puts Romeo down, and then hands the young rainbow flame mage his bag. Without another word, Gildarts quickly lost his carefree demeanor as he began walking towards Tartaros Castle.  
"Gildarts!" Makarov yells out one more time, but the ace of Fairy Tail merely raises a hand as he continues walking. "I'll handle it."  
"Tch... Just don't get yourself hurt!" Cana yells back as Gildarts continues walking. He threw a fist into the air as he walked out of sight.

Halfway there as well, a little bit behind Takeru and Natsu, Fairy Tail hightailed it towards Tartaros. Erza, Laxus, Gray, Gajeel and Pantherlily, Juvia, Wendy and Charla, Lucy, Elfman, and Mirajane all ran together as the grassy plains they ran through quickly turned into the dried up ground that surrounded the area.  
"There's no doubt that Natsu is already there." Erza says.  
"Great, that's two people we have to save." Gray replies with a bit of a smirk. Lucy stays quiet as she kept a worried look on her face, Juvia then looks over at the celestial wizard. "Lucy."  
"Huh? Juvia.."  
"Natsu will be alright." Juvia says as she gives her a smile. "Natsu knows how to survive, and Fairy Tail be there in time if Natsu needs help."  
Juvia's words cause Lucy to smile through her worries as she nods a bit. She then turns back to the path ahead of her as they all continued running.

.

"Okay Tobias. It's time to hear the second part of your plan. That would be nice since they're almost here ya know?" Maggie stood waiting impatiently as everyone gathered around, waiting for Tobias to speak. The Mage stood in the middle of the circle with a grin on his face as he cleared his throat. "Right, phase two. This phase shouldn't be too hard since they're all injured now, but this is when you all really get your hands dirty." Tobias lifts up a small book on runes magic as he continues speaking. "I've been studying a bit of runes magic just for this occasion. You see, in phase two, the fairies and White Eclipse will make their way to the castle as they do so now. This is where we put up our 'defenses.' We will make this as hard for them as possible. That being said. Maggie, if you would be so kind, to put up a lava wall around the castle. After that, give them a few of your golems to play with. And by few, I mean a good fifty will be just enough to demolish them. If somehow, Maggie's golems fail, and they make it past the lava wall. They'll head straight to the dungeons where their loved ones are captured. Well I've done some renovating. I've set up ten different paths, each laced with rune magic. You will all take a room, and wait patiently for whoever entered your path. If they can make it to you, you get to fight them. By this time, those mages will be too tired to lift a finger. You kill them, we move on to reviving Zeref with the lacrima we have from the council HQ and the one will soon get from Magnolia. And then..."  
Tobias's eyes then light up with sparkles. "I'll be Zeref's favorite dark mage and he'll make me one of his generals I just know it!"  
"...Yeah... Okay well they're almost here so lets hop to it." Aloysis says as he begins walking out of the room. Everyone else follows down the hallways as Maggie jogs down another hallways and up the stairs. She then slides out to the second floor balcony and looked out into the nothing that the rise of the castle created. There, she spotted Takeru and Natsu running towards the castle. "That's odd, only two?" She raised a brow until her eyes caught small specs in the distance, running in her direction. Two different groups she spotted, slowly converging into one. "Well I'll be. So far that bloke's plan is dead on. Okay.. Lets get started."  
Maggie begins cracking her knuckles. She then rolled her neck as she laid her arms by her side. A bright red-orange magic seal then appears around Tartaros Castle. As Maggie slowly lifts her arms, around the castle a giant wall of lava begins to shoot up like a fountain, covering to the sky, just like the tsunami she created before. Once finished, Natsu and Takeru come into view completely, noticing the lava wall as they never slowed momentum. What did make them come to a stop however, was the golems that popped out of the wall. Mixed with molten rock and the lava itself, an estimate of fifty now stood in the way of The Salamander and the Shadow Dragon.  
"This isn't going to stop me!" They both yelled in unison as the first wave of golems charged the two dragon slayers. Both rearing their dominant fists back, Takeru slams a shadow infused punch through two of the golems as Natsu gives the same effort with his flames. Though with two already gone, the remainder of the mini army surrounded the two mages. They refused to back down however. "Shadow Dragon's Wing Slash!" Takeru takes off past an entire line of golems, slicing and breaking their bodies in half.  
"Iron fist! Of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu roars out his attack as he repeatedly slams a heavy fist into the golems that surround him. He slid back to a back to back position with Takeru as the seemingly endless numbers of the golems once again surround them.  
"There's a lot.." Takeru says.  
"We're wasting time a a magic here. We need a way past that lava wall."  
As Takeru finished talking, a couple of golems leaped towards the two dragons were ready to attack until...  
"Ice make: freeze lancer!"  
From two different angles, a set of ice lances come hurling in, slamming into the airborne golems. The lances break the golems apart easily. Gray and Luke now stood side by side in their ice make positions until they turned to growl at each other in a comical fashion.  
"Get it together!" Erza yelled as she stayed in her standard armor, yet she requipped two normal swords in her hands as she began slicing through the incoming golems. Taya then charges in with her dark vectors, destroying every golem in her way with her sharp dark arrows.  
"Natsu!" Lucy calls out as she runs to his side, now standing next to the dragon slayer as everyone else comes into view completely.  
Natsu looks around in a bit of shock. "I thought.."  
"You really think we were gonna allow you to have all the fun, Salamander!?" Gajeel says as he and a full sized Pantherlily stood side by side. With that being said, Lily quickly turns and pulls out his sword, slicing a golem in half as Gajeel began to inhale the air around him. He then fired off a heavy funnel of iron magic, sweeping it from left to right. The roar collides into a line of golems, breaking them all apart as their remaining pieces were swept up into the roar. "Gihi!"  
"Beast soul! Weretiger!" Elfman ran straight ahead, right into a circle of golems, and began dodging and countering their attempts to strike the beast soul takeover mage down. With one lightning fast strike after another, a possessed looking Elfman continued destroying the golems around him. One of them gets free and leaps towards the unsuspecting Elfman, only to have a fist infused with dark magic slam through it's stomach, causing it to limp over lifelessly. Mirajane then threw the golem aside as her and Elfman continued to raced towards the castle.  
"Well they're on a mission it seems." Sidney says as he easily gets rid of the golems in front of him by conjuring up a light purple magic seal and firing off raw beams of ghost magic into them, killing them instantly.  
One golem charges both Selene and Cygnus at full speed. Selene wraps diamond scales around her fist, ready to strike, but Kairi quickly picks the golem off with a hard axe kick to the top of it's head, shutting it down on impact. "Save your magic the best you can. We haven't even gotten inside yet." The angel takeover yells to her guild mates specifically. Zalen conjures up a small magic seal, creating two plates of armor that fit perfectly around his feet. He then begins slamming his newly strengthened fist into any golem in his way. Adam had his back, as he stood behind the building mage, easily lifting the golems off their feet and slamming their heads into the hard ground each time.  
"I'll never get over how big that guy is..." Gray says as he then keeps his guard up, watching the remaining golems charge them.  
"Water nebula!"  
"Roar of the Sky Dragon!"  
The two females combine their attacks for a unison raid that slams into a good amount of lava golems, quickly destroying them.  
"Wind blades!" Aira then joins in the fray, leaping over Juvia and Wendy, covering their back as she fired off blades made purely of her wind magic, slicing two golems in half. With the golems now completely finished, every on turns their attention to the lava wall in the way of their destination.  
"Elfman wait!" Mirajane yells out as she flies after the were-tiger. Elfman completely ignores her as he runs full sprint towards the wall.  
"If I just jump through, the pain won't be that bad." He thought to himself, which was more like not thinking at all as his mind was clouded with thoughts of saving his little sister.  
"I'm coming Lisanna!" Elfman screams out as he jumps towards the lava wall. "Elfman!"  
The take over mage was quickly halted as Sidney appeared in a puff of white smoke, pushing his palm against Elfman's chest. What was a push felt like a punch to the mage as he fell off of his feet and onto his rear. Elfman then growls at Sidney as he quickly jumps to his feet after reverting back to his normal form. "Get out of the way!" He yelled as he clenched his fist towards the ghost mage. By this time, everyone else caught up to the two as they stood in front of the towering wall of molten liquid.  
"And if I do, what will you do? Jump through that lava wall? Idiot."  
"What did you say!?" Elfman took a step forward. "My little sister is in there!"  
Natsu's eyes widen at what he just heard. "Lisanna..." Without a moments hesitation, Natsu sprints forward. Then, right before the wall itself, he crouches and lunges forward while covering himself in flames as he leaps through the wall.  
"Natsu!" Lucy and the others yell out while the rest watch in shock.  
"Dammit...he's getting ahead. Daityas is mine..." Takeru whispers to himself.  
"See, that's pure idiocy, but only he can do it. Now, we have someone in there as well. Use your head, how can you save her if you're dead?" Sidney's words quickly hush the mage as he looks over at Selene. "Selene."  
"Say no more." The diamond dragon slayer says as she steps in front of the group. Her arms cover in diamond scales once again. She then slams her palms down into the ground, creating a diamond plated floor to the entrance of the castle. The diamond floor stopped the flow of the lava wall, leaving a gap wide enough for a safe trip inside.  
"Alright lets go!" Erza shouts as everyone else runs inside, Takeru leading the pack as he sprints ahead.

.

Inside the castle. Lisanna, Skye, and Meredy all shared a cell that restrained them from using any of their magic. The three girls sat around with nothing but somber faces. Skye looked over to the wall outside of the cell as she gazed at her sword. "Claymore..."  
"There has to be a way out." Lisanna says as she finally stands from her seat. "We can't just sit here!"  
Meredy slowly shakes her head. "Sorry, I looked all over, this cell is closed shut. There's no way out from the inside."  
Skye then begins shaking the bars of the cell. "Agh! This is unfair! Let me out!"  
"You're wasting your energy." The pink haired mage stands from her seat just to move over and lean against the far wall. "We're trapped and no one can hear us."  
"This is bull!" Skye says as she kicks the cell door. "Reve, Kairi, anyone from White Eclipse.. Please!"  
Lisanna and Meredy watch as Skye starts to break down.  
"Don't worry..."  
Skye stops and turns to a smiling Lisanna. "They'll come and save us. They always do."  
Skye just looks up at Lisanna, then slides her knees up to her chest as she waits, sniffling.  
"I hope they hurry."

.  
Takeru sprinted down the hallway, in front of Fairy Tail and White Eclipse a good ways, yet behind Natsu to the point where he could just barely see him. "Get back here!" Takeru ducked his head down as he tried to pick up speed. He looked back up as he saw Natsu finish the hallway and enter another smaller one. Beside the first hallway that Natsu and Happy entered, were nine more just like it. Still, Takeru elected to take the same hallway that Natsu did. The second he ran inside, a wall of runes appeared behind the dragon slater unnoticed as he kept running to keep up with Natsu. Bringing up the rear, Luke and the others ran into the same room before the hallways.  
"I saw them run into here!" Luke yells as he runs for the first hallway. He then slams face first into the invisible runes wall and comically falls over onto his back. "...ow."  
Sidney then walks up to the wall, and places his hand upon it, causing the runes to appear. He then began to read the "rules" that the runes have given.  
"Only one member from each guild per hallway... Is this some kind of game to them?"  
"Never mind that." Erza says. "Lets just follow their game until we can find Lisanna."  
"And Skye." Taya adds as she pushes Erza into hallway number two. "Hey!" Erza turns back to the mage who calmly walks in the room and by Erza. "Let it go Titania. If I'm gonna be partnered with a fairy, it might as well be with the strongest one."  
"Tch." Erza scoffed and then began walking next to Taya as they made their way down the hallways.  
"Who's coming?!" Luke asked as he took hallway number three.  
"Wait up!" Gray yells as he follows quickly.  
"Gray-Sama!" Juvia calls out to the leaving ice maker. Just then, Zalen gives Juvia a small smile and a push towards hallway number four, causing the runes to appear as they both enter.  
"Mirajane.."  
"I'll be fine." Mirajane gives her younger brother a smile as she takes hallway number five.  
"I guess I'll go with her." Kairi says as she walks in behind her.  
"Come on tin can." Selene says as she smirks towards Gajeel. He grins back. "Yeah Yeah. You ready Lily?"  
Pantherlily nods. "Although I'm upset that they don't see us exceeds as guild members."  
"Well we'll just have to show em what you are!"  
"Hallway number seven.." Adamantine walks towards the room, the near same time as Laxus. The unspoken agreement of them two was ironically loud and clear.  
Aira then grabs Wendy by the hand. "Come with me Wendy, we can help each other okay?"  
Wendy blinks, but then nods in agreement. "Hai!"  
"Not without me!" Charla yells as she follows the two girls into hallway number eight.  
"Hey, beast soul guy." Cygnus calls out for Elfman as he enters hallway number nine."  
Elfman nods. "Man!" He then runs in behind the gravity god slayer.  
All that was left was Sidney...and Lucy.  
"Hm..." Sidney looks the girl over, and then begins walking towards the last hallway. Lucy, completely nervous from even being around him, slowly follows the ghost mage behind. "Why me...?"

.  
"Heh, I knew those two would pick the first hallway." Tobias grins to himself as he loosens up his hands. "They'll get here and we'll stand off, two on one. And I'll let them know how pathetic they are, causing them to attack in blind fury. Then I'll finish them both off." Tobias begins to laugh to himself until their footsteps became louder. With a grin he then prepared himself. He then saw both Natsu enter the room. "Well well, if it isn't the two Dragon slay-" before Tobias could finish his sentence, Natsu palmed the mage's face, pushing him backwards. Takeru then came sliding in with a hard right hook to Tobias's side. The mage goes slamming into the wall. He quickly hops back up with an angered expression, dusting himself off as Happy flies in. "Hey! I was going to make a speech!"  
"Shut up!" Natsu yells as he charges Tobias once again with Takeru right behind him.  
"You insolent!" Tobias creates a magic seal right in front of him. Out of the seal a giant wave of water violently slams the two mages against the wall. As the water drains, Tobias stalks both of the mages who quickly make their way to their feet. "I'm going to end you both right here."

Entering the second room of their hallway, Taya and Erza look around as they enter, carefully watching their every step. "Careful..."  
"I know Titania." Taya groaned a bit as she softly trended across the empty room.  
"Well well." Kiora says as she rises from the ground, reforming to a solid form and no longer a shadow. "Hey Maggie, we have friends."  
"Well I'll be!" Out of a slithering puddle of lava, Maggie appears into a solid form as well. "And look it is! We get to finish Tayakata off after all it seems! What a lovely day!"  
Taya wasted no time sliding into a fighting stance. Erza quickly requips into her purgatory armor as she spun her giant mace and then stabbed it hard into the ground.  
"Well geez Maggie, our two playmates didn't waste much time huh?"  
"Doesn't look like it love." Maggie says with a smile. She then turned her left hand into a whip made of pure molten lava. "Lets show them what the greatest team can do."  
Kiora smirks as she performs a quick shadow make maneuver. A small ball of shadow magic hovers over her dominant hand. She squeezes the ball, causing it to turn into a large scythe.  
"Keep your guard up at all times Scarlet. These two are annoying dolts, but they do work well together."  
"What did you just call us!?" The two dark mages yelled at the same time. "It's time to shut you up for good!" They both once again yell in unison as they simultaneously swing down vertical attacks at Erza and Taya.

Hallway three. Gray and Luke walk into the room. Byron was already waiting, leaning on his hammer with an unamused look upon his face.  
"You already lost." Byron says to the two mages.  
"In your dreams!" Gray shouts back. "We're about to ruin your entire day!" "You heard the man." Luke says as he gives Byron a thumbs down.  
"No you don't understand." Byron says as he points to the magic circle under both the mages feet. "You already lost!"  
Both Gray and Luke look down as the magic seal begins to glow. Before either one could react, an explosion occurs from under them, knocking them both towards opposite walls and on their backs. "What was..." Luke groaned out as he winced in pain. As he looked up, he saw Byron towering over him with his hammer over his shoulder. He then lifted the hammer above his head. "Too easy."

Juvia and Zalen nearly arrive at the end of their hallway. "Juvia should be with Gray-Sama!" The aquatic mage says as she tugs on her own shirt, wondering what was going on wherever Gray was. Zalen huffs. "That's not a concern right now. Right now we have to save your friend and mind. Reve would kill me if anything happened to Skye..." His words trail off as they both enter a room. Another empty room, except their room was filled with a type of mist. Zalen squinted his eyes as he could see eyes at the end of the thick mist. The eyes stared back at them both until they started to bounce up and down as they came closer to the two mages. Once in view, Juvia and Zalen watch in utter confusion as they see Myou literally skip towards them. She then stops right before them. Myou continues to stare at them both, emotionless. Zalen and Juvia stare back, lost at what to do. The stare down continues until Zalen tries to slide to the right. The second he moved, Myou slams a wick left kick to his side, sliding him right back beside Juvia. Juvia then rears and arm back, ready to fire a water slicer, but Myou beats her to the attack as she wraps smoke around her hands and backhands Juvia away from her and Zalen.  
"She's fast..!" Zalen says to himself. He quickly conjures up a magic seal under Myou as an iron pillar shoots up from under her. Myou slides out the way in an instant, never taking her eyes off of Zalen. Her stars became more and more eerie to Zalen due to the fact she has yet to blink since he saw her.  
"We're in trouble..."

In hallway number five, Kairi and Mirajane enter their room. The room was a lot different from the others. In their room, were a few pillars made of stone, the rest of the room was a seemingly bottomless pit. "This is it?" Kairi asked as she hopped to the middle pillar. In her Satan Soul form, Mirajane flew towards the opposing door, but of course it was blocked by runes. As she placed her palm against the door, the rules appeared. {Only one of you can pass. The other, or both, will drown.}  
"What?" Mirajane raised a brow at the runes. "We aren't going to fight each other. Help me find a way around this Kairi... Kairi?"  
Mirajane turned around to Kairi who had her head lowered. "There's no way around it. There never is." Her hair began to flow upward as she started her angel soul takeover. "I'm sorry, but Skye needs me."  
Mirajane turns around completely as magic seals appear on the ceiling. Water begins to pour from them as they splash at the bottom, now slowly filling up the room. "Lisanna needs me as well. And I won't let her down. So if this is how you want to proceed.."

Selene, Gajeel and Lily finish up hallway number six, stepping into an empty room just like the others. They look around to find no one insight. "There's the next door." Gajeel says as they walk towards it. Just then, four purple darts land right in front of them. "Watch out!" Selene yells as they all three hop backwards. As the darts land, poisonous gas begins to flow out from the darts and quickly fill the room, causing the three to cover up their faces as the cough profusely. "Poison!" Lily says as he quickly falls to a knee. From the ceiling, Hokori laughs, gathering their attention. He then flips down to reveal himself in his poison warrior takeover. He reverts back to his normal form as he takes in a drag of his cigarette. "I thought this would be more fun." He exhales as the mages and Lily continue coughing, both falling to their knees as they gasp for air.

Adamantine sniffs the air as he an Laxus walk down hallway number seven. Laxus knew exactly to whom they were headed for. It was why he chose this path. As they both entered the room, it was to no surprise who was waiting inside. They both now stood across from the giant Mithril. He was a bit taller than Adamantine, which made Laxus look small himself. Still, the Fairy Tail mage wasn't shakes a bit.  
"I saw this coming. Welcome to my home, brother." Mithril says as he grins at Adam.  
"That term is such a vague one. We're only brothers by species."  
"Species?" Laxus raises a brow as he looks at Adam and then back at Mithril. As he does, he noticed Mithril's eyes change shape into those of a lizard's. "It makes sense now. He wasn't a lightning dragon slayer.. He's a lightning dragon.."

.  
Already in the room at the end of hallway number eight, Aira and Wendy look around at the eerie sight of dolls hanging from shelves. They all stared back at the two mages who had just entered. "This is creepy." Aira says as she and Wendy stay close together and slowly walk towards the next door. They quickly stop walking as they heard giggling. Echo throughout the room. "You hear that!?" Charla asked as she stayed next to Wendy. "I'm scared!" Wendy says as she shifts her eyes around, looking for the source of the laughter.  
"Relax, just...keep moving.." Aira says even though she couldn't move a muscle. Seconds later, Sora appears out of the ground from her own shadow. "Hi." She says with a smile as she waves. Her big blue eyes gathered everyone's attention.  
"It's that girl.." Wendy says. "She attacked me earlier..."  
"Sora's smile widens as she twirled her pink her in her fingers. "Sorry about that! How about we play this time instead!" As she finishes her sentence, about ten of her shadow puppets arise from the ground behind her. "This will be fun!"

Cygnus and Elfman enter their room in hallway number nine. Calmly waiting across the room was the dimensional mage, Rugal. "Finally! A fight!" Cygnus yells out as he runs towards the green haired mage. Elfman hung back to see what Cygnus was going to do. As the gravity god slayer charged in, Rugal stood with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Cygnus then threw a gravity magic infused right punch towards Rugal. Without moving an inch, or opening his eyes, Rugal opens a portal right before the punch landed. Elfman looked on, not noticing the portal reopen to his left. Cygnus's fist shoots through the portal and slams into Elfman's jaw, causing him to slide into the far wall from the force of the blow.  
"What the!?" The confusion on Cygnus's face was all the opening Rugal needed as he then slammed a hard knee into Cygnus's abdomen. Cygnus then hunched over from the overwhelming force. Rugal then slams an uppercut to the mage's chin. The blow sent him flying upward, but before Cygnus hit the ceiling, Rugal opened another portal, and Cygnus went flying through it. The portal reopened right in front of Rugal, and the dimensional mage fired a left hook with perfect timing as Cygnus reappears. The hook slammed into Cyg's jaw, causing him to go sliding hard into the ground. Rugal then turns to Elfman who was making his way back to his feet. "Come on take over mage. Your sister could be right behind this door. All you have to do is beat me."  
That all he needed to hear as Elfman rose to his feet and charged Rugal. "Give me back Lisanna!"

Finally in the room of hallway ten, Sidney and Lucy kept walking. Lucy was a little ways behind Sidney just to be safe of the eerie ace of White Eclipse. Unlike the others, Sidney had no problem with the room he was in as he continued on out of the empty room and into the next hall. As Lucy jogged a bit to catch up, she was stopped as the runes quickly activated. "Huh!? What? Why!?" Lucy says as she bangs on the wall of runes. "Sidney!"  
She yelled out, but Sidney was already gone.  
"Oops.. Looks like you're alone." Appearing behind Lucy, was Ruika. She placed her hands on her hips as she gave a small grin.  
"Who are you?" Lucy asked.  
"Who am I? I'm the true celestial wizard, Ruika. And it's mages like you and that Yukino girl that make me sick, running around with your keys, thinking you're actually a decent mage; but I'm here to put a stop to that. I wanted this fight for so long, Lucy Heartfilia." Ruika goes to a wicked grin as she lifts a key into the air. "Gate of the eagle. Aquila."  
Out of it's gate, appeared an humanoid with the features of a human. Holding it's sword, Aquila pointed it's weapon towards Lucy as she lifted a key of her own. "Sagittarius!"  
"Moshi Moshi!"  
"Ugh! I hate you already! With your horrible summoning strategies. I can't wait to mount your head on my wall!"  
"What's wrong with this woman!?"

.

Daityas sat alone at the room in Tartaros castle. He sat with his arms crossed and a grin plastered on his face.  
"I liked this plan. I like it even more now that I've added my own twist to it. I expect them to mess up. Because once they do...

That's when my plan begins to prosper.."


	55. Chapter 55

White Eclipse  
Chapter 55

"It seems I'm late. I can already hear them starting without me." He grins and walks over the diamond surface that Selene created earlier, entering the castle. In no rush, he continued walking until he came across a path that splits into eight hallways. With a lot of commotion going on, he closes his eyes to gain focus. "... Hallway number one. I'm coming for you Salamander. We're gonna settle this."  
Since he wasn't apart of either guild, he walked right through the runes and down the hallway, making his way to the fight.

{Minutes later}  
"Over here!" Sting yelled as he ran full speed towards the castle. Behind him was Rogue and Yukino. Sting began to smirk as he neared Tartaros Castle. "I'm not missing the fun this time. The council did say it was everyone's job to handle these guys, not just Fairy Tail." As he completes his thoughts, a golden blur zooms by Sting and Sabertooth as it enters the castle, causing the three mages to stop in their tracks.  
"What was that?" Yukino asked.  
"I don't know..but lets keep moving anyways." Rogue says.  
The three Sabertooth mages run across the diamond structure and down the main hallway until they came to the eight hallway stop.  
"There's eight..." Rogue says as he began choosing which to take in his mind.  
"We'll have to split from here..." Sting says as he begins to inch towards the first hallway. "Pick one and we'll meet up later."  
Yukino and Rogue both nodded. After a minute of thinking, Yukino quickly dashes into the last hallway as Rogue takes the sixth. All three dash down the hallway in attempt to catch up to and provide support to White Eclipse and Fairy Tail.

{Minutes Before}  
Surrounded by the shadow puppets,  
Wendy and Aira stood back to back with Charla at their feet. The puppets all gave a wicked smile as the crimson liquid continuously dripped from their finger tips. "I've never seen things like these before.." Wendy says as she stays alert to the ones in front of her.  
"I have, you can take them! It's your own shadow you'll have to worry about."  
"What!?" Wendy was taken off guard by Aira's words. Two of the shadows in front of her took this as an opening and charged the sky dragon slayer. They both threw jabs with their pointed fingertips. Wendy stood, unable to move from being caught off guard, but Aira grabs her and spins her around to change places with her. In one motion she then creates a magic seal that fires off her patented wind blades. As the four blades of wind fire out; two for each puppet,  
Aira turns her back to the now dismembered puppets as she watches Wendy take the helm now. The little sky dragon leaps over the shadow puppet charging her. She then lands and lunges back towards it. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" With her arms crossed, she flung them to the side as she threw two vortexes of sky magic towards the puppet, sweeping up three more in the process and leaving six remaining. Those six surround the two girls, leaving them no space to maneuver. Aira smirks as her and Wendy exchange looks. Then, in one slowed motion, the six remaining puppets lunge toward the two mages. "Black Hurricane!"  
"Roar of the Sky Dragon!"  
As Wendy fires off her roar, the magic combines with the violently clockwise spinning motion of the Black Hurricane from Aira. The thrashing winds send the puppets flying about violently until they dispersed into nothing. As the hurricane and Sky Dragon Roar disappear, Aira and Wendy turn their attention towards Sora, who still stood in her same spot with a smile. She tilted her head to the side a bit as she gave her innocent yet eery smile.  
"I know what's coming!" Aira yells towards Sora as she averted her eyes to her own shadow every once in a while.  
"You're running out of tricks little girl! Just give up!"  
"My name is Sora!" She says, a bit upset at what Aira called her.  
"Your name isn't important at this point. Just give us our friends back!"  
Sora then smiles again. "You shouldn't worry about your friends, when you're the one in trouble."  
"Oh yeah.?" Aira was about to slide into a fighting stance, until she found that she couldn't move her feet. "Huh!?" She continued to struggle but it was to no avail. Wendy and Charla let out a gasp as well as they too found themselves stuck in the ground. "What's going on?" The blue haired mage asked.  
"Don't look at me." Sora says with a smile, her tone sarcastic. "I'm all out of tricks." As Sora began to laugh, Aira's, Wendy's and Charla's shadow began to slide up their own bodies, constricting them from movement as they made their way up the legs, then around their torso,  
And finally to their head. They now stood nearly frozen, with their shadows visibly seen holding them down. "I...I can't move!" Wendy cried out.  
"I can't use any magic either!" Aira replied as she relentlessly struggled to find a way out of her predicament. Sora gave out a childish laughter as she walked towards the three constricted victims. "You three were boring!" As she spoke, her shadow arises from the ground, smiling. From it's hand, it creates a long dagger and hands it to Sora. An evil smile then creeps upon Sora's face as she held the dagger over Aira.  
"Maybe you'll be more fun as one of my dolls."

.  
"Brother huh?" Laxus says to Adam without taking his eyes off of Mithril. He stood with his arms still crossed as Mithril stood opposite of them both with his long but bulky arms to his side, grinning.  
"Only by race." Adam replies while still narrowing his eyes at Mithril.  
"Yeah, it makes sense now. You're not a dragon slayer. Neither one of you are...  
...you're dragons."  
"Very good little lightning boy." Mithril says with a laugh. "Now prepare for death, because neither one of you stand a chance."  
"Let me handle this." Adamantine says as he takes a step foward. His icy aura begins to shroud around him as his eyes stay locked with Mithril. Laxus begins to spark an aura around him as well. "I'm not sitting anything out. This guy attacked me and my guild, and I won't let anyone pay back such a debt but me."  
"What's with all this talking!? Here let me help the party get started!" And with that, Mithril, lifts his right leg and then stomps it down, creating a giant charge of lightning in the ground. Both Laxus and Adam leap into the air out of the way. When Adam jumped, he lunged towards Mithril with his fists covered in ice. He swung a right hook, that was met by Mithril's left one; his fists infused with his lightning. When both fists collide, a mixture of ice and lightning shockwave and decorate the giant room as it shakes. After holding his ground, Laxus come sliding in with a right, lightning infused haymaker. He slams it right into Mithril's jaw, which causes him to slide backwards from the blow. Laxus raises a brow a bit, realizing that he put all his brute strength into that blow and yet it came off as a normal punch. He quickly snaps out of it and leaps towards Mithril with both of his fists connected. "Jaw, of the lightning dragon!" Before he could connect however, Mithril recovered from the previous blow and catches Laxus by his torso. He then slings him across the room into the opposite wall. Mithril quickly turns his attention back to Adamantine whose arm grew a large blade shape scale made of ice. He slings his arm at Mithril, but the lightning dragon leans away from the blade. He then used his momentum to fire a headbutt, slamming right in between Adam's eyes. The ice dragon stumbles backwards from the blow. The groggy dragon was then lifted off his feet by Mithril as he tackled Adam to the ground. Mithril quickly hops to his feet and begins to repeatedly stomp on Adam's chest. Each time a lightning discharge was made from the stomp. Mithril went for his sixth stomp, but was halted halfway down. He looked under his foot to see Laxus hold up his boot with both of his hands. As he struggled, Laxus's shirt began to rip off as he bulked up. Using the power of the lacrima inside of him, Laxus now stood bulkier than before, yet still smaller than the two dragons. He didn't mind it however, as he pushed Mithril backwards, giving Adamantine time to make it to his feet, yet holding his chest from the lightning stomps. Mithril regained his balance, and then grinned at the bulked up Laxus. "Oh? Is this the lightning dragon slayer's strongest form? I feel threatened. Maybe I should reveal mine too.."  
Adam's eyes widen from Mithril's comment. "You should go back Laxus. This is going to get a lot worse."  
"Look, I know he's a dragon. I'm the lightning dragon slayer. I think I can handle this with you."  
"Okay, here's the truth." Adam says as Mithril clenches both of his fists, baring his teeth and causing his eyes to change shape. "Dragon slaying magic was a desperation tactic when we were at war. Only dragons can beat dragons. The magic you have is a copy of a dragon. Only one person was successfully able to beat a dragon that wasn't one himself and you know what happened to him. I don't need you to play savior right now. I'm glad our magic has been proven superior over other mages, but this is different. Now move, or get squashed!" As Adam finishes his sentence, he begins to clench his fist as well, causing an icy blue magic seal to appear under his feet. Just like Mithril who was a bit ahead of him, his canines begin to lengthen as his arms begin to form scales.  
Laxus took a few steps back as he watched them both begin to expand, crowding the room. As Mithril's tail began to appear, the rune doors shatter from his tail smashing against it. Still, Laxus stayed as the two dragons continued to slowly transform to their original states. As their necks began to grow, their heads smash through the ceiling, their bodies following. Laxus covers up as he continues to watch two dragons form right in front of his eyes. "This is unreal...how many more are hiding like this!?"

As Mirajane stood ready in her Satan Soul form, Kairi stood across from her in a silver one piece. Her footwear were now matching boots that ran up to her thighs. The boots held a gold trim around them. She also had matching wrist length gloves with angel wings sprouting from her back. She now stood in her angel takeover: Uriel.  
They both disappear in a blur, meeting in the middle with their fists colliding for a shockwave. They both begin exchanging punches, colliding in a stalemate nearly each time. A few of Mirajane's punches would slide by and scrape or connect against Kairi's face. The same would steadily happen to Kairi's punches against Mirajane. The demon slowly started to gain advantage of the exchange as more and more of her punches began to slide through and connect against the angel takeover mage. Kairi finally bails out of the exchange as she ducks a punch and lands on a lone pillar. She then cups her hands together and thrusts them forward; firing out a strong beam of light magic. Mirajane quickly crosses her arms in an X formation as the beam slams into her and pushes her into the ceiling. The Satan Soul quickly flies out of the cloud of debris however and charges at Kairi full speed. Before Kairi could react, Mirajane had her hands against her chest. "Evil Spark!" From her hands, Mirajane emits a well sized spark of lightning from her hands against Kairi. The force sends her slamming into the wall behind her, but with great endurance, she bounces back and lands feet first on another pillar, glaring at her opponent. Mirajane charges once again, but this time, Kairi fires back by holding out her right palm, firing off a plethora of air bullets torwards the mage. Mirajane flies around them while heading toward Kairi, barely losing any momentum, but enough momentum was lost to when Mirajane reared back and fired another right fist, Kairi swayed away from it, and lifted a knee right into Mirajane's abdomen. Folding her over, Kairi then followed with a spinning roundhouse that slammed into the demon's shoulder, pushing her into the far wall. Mirajane recovers before crashing into the wall however and charges at Kairi once again. As she neared, Kairi took flight into the air, causing Mirajane to give chase. Mirajane falls right into Kairi's trap as the angel take over mage quickly opens her wings fully to stop immediately. She then sways hard to the right, causing Mirajane to fly right past her. The second Mirajane turns around, Kairi slams an open palm to her face, pushing he back into the ceiling, where the unforgiving structure collides with the back of the demon's head. Wincing, Mirajane held the back of head as she tried to fight the groggy feeling. Kairi took the opening, and flew behind the Satan Soul, grabbing her in a bear hug that held down her arms and wings. Mirajane tried to struggle out, but it was too late as Kairi turns them upside down and begins to dive towards the elevating water. On the way down, she began to spin them both, in order to keep Mirajane off balance. The spin was fast enough to nearly create a miniature tornado as she finally released the demon. Mirajane goes crashing into the water, causing a great splash followed by silence.  
Kairi waits, and then looks over at the door, the runes still intact. "Tch.."  
Kairi turns back to the water, waiting on Mirajane to resurface since the runes indicated that she was fine. A few seconds later, a bright light emitted from the bottom of the body of water that halfway filled the room. From the light, Mirajane ascended out of the water, now in her Demon Halphas form. With an emotionless expression, she stared at the angel who was now somewhat cautious by her stare alone.  
"Kairi...  
Brace yourself."

Byron swung the hammer down towards Luke, but before he could connect, Gray slid in on one knee as he faced Luke. His arms were spread out behind him as he kneeled over the copy mage shirtless. Behind him was his ice make: shield. The hammer slams against the shield harmlessly, allowing Luke time to scramble to his feet as he and Gray roll away from the upcoming explosion. The shield cushions that as well, but the force of the explosion was strong enough to cause the two mages to tumble away from Byron. "Lucky save, won't happen twice." Byron says as he takes a few horizontal practice swings with his hammer.  
"Alright!" Luke says as he stands. "You got the drop on us! Now it's time for you to go down. Ice make: Freeze Lancer!" From an icy blue magic seal, the copy mage fires off four lances made of ice. Byron leaps away from the continuously until they all shatter. By this time, Gray comes to a sliding stop to Byron's left. "Heh.." He quickly slides into his patented stance. "Ice make: saucer!" From in front of him, he creates a sharp blade that begins to spin as he hurls towards Byron. Once again, Byron managed to dodge, but barely by swaying away from it at the last second. This caused him to stumble backwards. This was Luke's opening as he lunges in with his right fist reared backwards. "Iron fist, of the Fire Dragon!" He slams the fist right into the jaw of Byron, causing the dark mage to slam face first into the opposite wall. He slowly gets up from the wall and turns to the two mages. "Oi...you're in for a world of hurt now." His hammer disappears. He then gives a small grin as his boots and gloves begin to glow, both of them now appearing slightly bigger. Dawned in all black boots and gloves, Byron zooms towards Gray. Unable to react in time, Gray hunches over from a clubbing blow Byron slammed into his stomach. He tries to retaliate with a right hook of his own but Byron quickly blocks it and slams a left uppercut to the ice maker's jaw. As Gray falls backwards from the hard uppercut, Luke then comes in with a fiery roundhouse that Byron easily ducks under. The requip mage then follows up with his own kick to Luke's abdomen. As Luke folds over, Byron slams down an axe kick on the top of Luke's head, leaving him face down on the floor. "What happened to me going down eh?" Byron asked as he laughed. He then turned his attention back to Gray as he pounded his gloves together. "Lets wrap this up." Before Byron could take another step, a yellow magic seal formed under his feet. He looked down, and a second later, a surge of lightning shocked all through his body. After it was over, he stayed standing, yet shocked and even burned by the bolts of lightning. He turned back to the culprit, a teetering, but standing Luke cloud. Luke began to chuckle a bit as Gray too makes it to his feet with the same expression. "I wasn't kidding." Luke Cloud says as he wipes off some of the dirt on his face. He then looks up at Byron as Gray finishes off his statement. "You're going down. And we'll save our nakama."

.  
As the castle shakes, Daityas sits in his study, unphased by the tremors. With his feet propped up on the desk, he rolls a perfectly square piece of lacrima in between his fingers. "I guess it's about time. They'll be upset, but it's just a castle, we can always find a new home once we rid the world of these puny mages and non magic users." Daityas then gets up from his desk, and walks to the nearest wall. With a grin, he pushes a different, more jagged piece of lacrima into the wall. He then watches as the lacrima quickly reacts to the magic being used inside the castle due to all the fighting. The lacrima quickly overtakes the entire study and then some. With a satisfied smirk, the King of hell walks back to his seat and props his feet up once again, admiring the new lacrima filled room. "Ah~ I love when a plan comes together. I don't know how many times I've said that already. That's how good it is." He laughs as he moves his feet, accidentally kicking over the vase that was used to revive Arc. With fast reflexes however, he catches the vase and sighs in relief. "Can't break you just yet there big guy. We have to revive Taya once Maggie and Kiora finish her off." He continues his laughter as he leans back once again, enjoying his moment as he waited for the rest of his plan unfold.

.  
"Sagittarius" The cosplaying spirit took aim, and fired off three arrows. The arrows flew towards the spirit Aquila, but the eagle humanoid leaps out of the way as he lengthens his sword. He then took a swing downward, but Lucy and Sagittarius both jump out of the way. Pulling out her whip, Lucy was able to wrap it around the spirit's arms, constricting him from movement. Ruika raises a brow. "Uh, what are you doing?" She asked in a bit of an annoyed tone.  
"My spirits never fight alone!" Lucy yelled. "I always fight with them."  
"...And here I thought I couldn't hate you anymore than I already do. I didn't think it was possible, for you to be such a horrible celestial mage. But you've outdone yourself again. I can't wait to kill you, I don't even want your head on my wall anymore."  
"Whatever! Sagittarius! Now!"  
"You just gonna stand there or what Aquila!?"  
As Sagittarius took aim, Aquila quickly overpowered the whip and used his sword to deflect the incoming arrows. The eagle like spirit then quickly rushes the cosplayer, knowing it was useless against close range. Once under the archer, Aquila extended his sword once again, stabbing it right through Sagittarius and causing it to disappear back to the spirit world.  
"Sagittarius!"  
"Shame, that was too easy." Ruika says as she stood with her hands on her hips. "This is why I'm the only true celestial wizard."  
"Is this what this is about?" Lucy asked as she pulled out another key.  
"Oh no, there's a much bigger mission. But if you're just referring to my intentions, then yes. It's a shame I couldn't get that Yukino girl here also. Killing you both before we take over Fiore would of been more satisfying." As Ruika finished speaking, Lucy held her key in the air. "Scorpio!"  
"We are!" Out of his gate quickly, Scorpio fires off a funnel of sand. Aquila dodges it and charges the scorpion spirit. He tries the same tactic as he did against Sagittarius but as it got close to Scorpio, Lucy successfully wrapped her whip around it's wrists, constricting it.  
"Stop interfering you idiot!" Ruika yelled out.  
"Scorpio now!"  
"Sand buster!" From point blank range, Scorpio fires his sand buster attack directly into Aquila's chest. The bird is sent flying into the wall as the sand buster continues to bury into him until he finally disappears back into his gate.  
"I told you, my spirits never fight alone!" The blonde haired mage says as she held her whip in a fighting pose.  
"That's because they're weak and useless! It's a good thing I took him when I did!"  
Lucy raised a brow in confusion. Her expression then turned into one of utter shock as Ruika lifted a familiar key into the air. Ruika then grinned as she was so giddy to say these next words right in front of Lucy.  
"Gate of the Lion..."  
"No..." Lucy watched in fear and shock, afraid of what was happening right before her.  
"I open thee, Loke!" As his gate opened, Loke steps out, looking normal except for his eyes that were pitch black behind his shades that he readjusted.  
"L-Loke...!" She looked on in surprise. "But that's impossible! We're still in contract! How can you summon him!?"  
Ruika begins to laugh at her comments. "Contract!? Silly weak celestial mage. I'm a dark mage, I find ways around contracts! Loke, Regulas this cretin away from me!"  
Loke bows to Ruika, then turns to Lucy with his fist by his chest. An orange aura begins to radiate around him. "Loke! Stop! It's me, Lucy! Can't you hear me!?"  
Lucy tried her best to call out for the spirit, but with no answer to her call, Loke lunges with his glowing fist reared back. Lucy covers up as the lion begins to slam his fist into her, but nothing happens. Lucy looks up to see Loke now floating on the air with a purple magic seal under him.  
"What's going on!?" Ruika asked as she stared at Loke.  
"Lucy!" The blonde haired mage looked behind her at the doorway as Yukino and Libra enter the room. "Yukino! How did you?"  
"Sorry I'm late." The white haired mage huffed out. She then pointed towards Ruika. "Give Lucy Loke back this instant!"  
Ruika then grins as she reaches for another key. "If I give her Loke back, does that mean I have to give you..."  
Yukino's eyes widen as Ruika holds up a key.  
"Gate of the snake Charmer! Ophiuchus!" The ceiling of the room becomes shrouded in dark clouds, and out of it's gate, the giant snake slithers out, taking up nearly all of Ruika's side of the room. Yukino covers her mouth in shock and awe. "Ophiuchus...!"  
Upon seeing their reactions, Ruika begins to laugh once more. "It's funny how you two thought you lost your keys, and yet, you're even worse of an owner than you think you are, because you allowed them to be stolen!"  
"I can't attack Ophiuchus..." Yukino says as she takes a step back in fear in confusion, uncertain of what to do.  
"How long are you gonna stay in that gravity Loke?" Ruika asked with a demanding tone. He then responded, struggling at first, but then quickly pulling himself out of the gravitational pull from the magic seal. "Good, now, you and Ophiuchus attack those two useless mages and their spirits!"  
Loke and the giant snake quickly charge.  
"Loke!" Lucy calls out with a couple tears swelling up in her eyes. "Loke stop!"  
"Lucy! Now isn't the time!" Yukino yells, tho it was obvious with the water works starting up in her pupils that she too was upset. "Libra!"  
Libra nodded, and opened a magic seal that attempted to shift the gravity once again on Loke. The lion quickly sways out of the way however, and continues his charge.  
"Sand Buster!" Scorpio fires off a funnel of sand directly towards Loke, only to be halted by a glowing punch from the Lion spirit. After the quick stalemate, Loke was able to continue forward unlike Scorpio! "Regulas..."  
"Loke!"  
"...Impact!" Loke slammed a devastating glowing right fist outlined with the head of a lion directly into Scorpio. The force of the blow sent the scorpion flying backwards, disappearing back into the spirit world right before hitting the wall. Lucy holds her hand over her mouth in fear as Loke now towered over her.  
"Libra help her!" Yukino yelled, but before the gate of the scales could make a move, Ophiuchus rams head first into Libra, slamming her into the wall. The celestial spirit quickly then dispersed back into her gate from the one hit KO. Yukino looks on in shock and fear as well as Ophiuchus begins to stalk her, coiling around the mage. "Seems like you two are running out of options." Ruika says as she begins laughing. "You might as well just stick your necks out now, because your heads are going on my wall collection."

.  
Back at the city of Magnolia, more and more guilds begin to show up, waiting for the outcome of the battle at Tartaros Castle. First, Mermaid Heel, then Lamia Scale and Sabertooth. Then finally Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerebrus. "This place is a wreck!" Lyon says as he walks towards the already present Fairy Tail and White Eclipse.  
"Good eye captain." Jack replies in a sardonic tone, still tinkering with his broken flask. Ignoring his comment, Lyon continues to look around as Bacchus made his presence known. "So Jack, what actually happened?"  
"Oh you know... Minding our business, Tartaros comes out of nowhere and attacks the inn. They kidnapped Skye too."  
"And Lisanna.." Levy says with a worried voice as she continues to stare at the castle.  
"Yeah, that girl too." Jack groans in frustration as he continues to try to piece the flask back together.  
"Makarov." GoldMine appears behind his guild and walks toward the old man, stopping right behind him.  
"GoldMine. This battle won't end at the castle, I know this much." Makarov says without taking his eye off the gigantic structure over the horizon.  
"It certainly won't." Calium says from his group of kids. "But we'll win that battle. Then we'll win the war as well. I have faith in my mages."  
"This isn't good at all!" Master Bob says, appearing with the other masters. "If Zeref is revived, that will be a whole new problem!"  
"Not just a problem. That's one problem that not even I can send spinning!" Master Ooba exclaims as she begins twirling her finger, incidentally spinning Toby. "Master Ooba stop! ONNNN!"  
"Either way, we must prepare for the worst." Makarov says. "No matter the situation, we need to be ready for anything. This is beyond a war. We may have an apocalypse on our hands."  
"Sounds fun."  
Everyone that wasn't White Eclipse turns to the icy blue haired mage. Waiston stood up and slid his hands in his jacket. Everyone else from his guild stood up around him with confident expressions. "This is what we signed up for. Reve said this to us from day one. He said, you guys want to be one of the strongest guilds in Fiore? And we all said of course, who doesn't. And the first thing he said to us was, that once we do become the strongest guild, responsibilities would be put on us, whether we like it or not. And now, our biggest responsibility to date, is making sure the world doesn't in. At first I thought Reve was talking about the boring things, like conferences and fancy dinners that we had to attend, but if this is the life for the top right guilds in all of Fiore, then I don't mind it at all."  
"I agree with Waiston for once." The vanilla blonde mage Heather adds. "You all should be excited. This is what you live for right?"  
"I know this is what I live for." Jaxon says. "This is a great wind of change, and I'll ride this wind until the fight is over."  
As the rest of White Eclipse stands, so does Fairy Tail, causing the rest of the Guilds to change their outlook.  
"Wild!"  
"Four!"  
Lyon nods. "Lamia Scale will not be shown up in this fight."  
"Neither will Mermaid Hell." Kagura says as she held her head down with a small smirk.  
"Sabertooth's number one!" Orga begins to sing in his horrible tone.  
A small smile creeps upon the guid master's faces.  
"Those are our brats.."

.  
As the ceiling collapses, Mithril and Adamantine quickly take flight before the other walls do the same. Appearing out of the right lower side ceiling of the castle, minimum damage was done to the building since they were away from the main structure. Still, Mithril the lightning dragon begins to fly high into the air to move away from the castle, and of course, Adamantine follows him as the icy aura from his wings let of a chilling wind with each flap, quickly dropping the temperature below him. Laxus makes his way up out of the rubble, and looks into the sky to see the two dragons. "Maybe it isn't my fight..." Laxus then looks to the door that was now runes free. He quickly makes his way up and out of the room, now running down the next hallway, looking back only once to see the dragons one last time. In the air, Mithril and Adamantine begin to fly around one another, one of them trying to gain the upper hand against the other. It was Adam to slip first as Mithril swoops in and slams his front right claw into Adam's side. On impact, a violent electric charge sparked off of Mithril's claw and against the body of the Ice Dragon. Adam finally rolls out of the way and behind Mithril after taking the damage, and without warning, he fires a large icy breath to the back of Mithril. The force alone sent the Lightning Dragon plummeting. On top of that, his wings were temporarily frozen. He however, began to spark lighting from his back and after a few seconds, the lightning breaks through the ice. Mithril then begins to flap his wings vigorously, stopping himself from hitting the ground just before impact. The wind being pushed from his wings as such a close range began to uproot the ground itself. Adam was charging Mithril from behind, but before he could ram into him, with one huge push, Mithril strafes out of the way, now behind Adam who landed on the ground on all fours. Mithril then bites down on the Ice Dragon's tail and slings him backwards. Adam's body slams into the supposed to be unforgiving wall of the castle.  
"Finish them off!" Ruika yelled as Loke and Ophiuchus towered over their previous owners. Loke's fists begin to glow as the snake charmer rears his neck back, preparing to strike. Before either one could strike, Adam goes crashing in from the outside wall of hallway eight, knocking Ophiuchus away from Yukino and into Loke. Both spirits crash into the opposite wall. "Hey!" Ruika looks over to see Mithril pulling Adam back away from the castle. She then runs to the hole they created. "Mithril! Watch what you're doing!"  
"Now's our chance!" Lucy says as she quickly gathers herself. She lifts a key into the air. "Gemini!" Out of it's gate, the twins appear and waste no time turning into a copy of Lucy. As if reading each other's mind. Gemini and Lucy nod, and the Gemini version lifts up two keys of her own. "Taurus, Aries!" From their gates, Taurus and Aries appear in front of Gemini and Lucy.  
"That's a lot of magic you're using Lucy.." Yukino states.  
"Not exactly, Taurus and Aries are all Gemini!"  
"In that case!" Yukino lifts up a key of her own. "Pisces!" Out of their gate, the twin fish begin to fly about the giant room. Quickly, the head for the wide open Ruika. Surprisingly, Ruika leaps out of the way, causing them both to ram into the wall behind them. "Aries, now!"  
"Wool bomb!" Aries throws her hands forward, firing off a giant cloud of pink wool that traps Ruika inside. "What!?"  
"Alright! Taurus! Take us home!"  
With a loud Mooing sound, Taurus leaps into the air and prepares to swing down his axe towards the constricted celestial mage. With wide eyes Ruika continues to attempt to struggle out of the wool bomb. As Taurus closes in, Ruika begins to panic. "Uh! Uh! ORION!" She shouts his name as she closes her eyes, bracing herself for impact. Out of his gate quickly, Orion appears and blocks the heavy axe with his sword. He then pushes back with immense strength, causing Taurus to slide backwards away from Ruika.  
"So close..." Lucy murmurs as she watches on. "But how can she control three spirits at once? Does she really have that much magic?"  
"Three? Three is nothing." Ruika says with a bluff as Orion cuts her loose from the wool. She was beyond annoyed by the point with both Lucy and Yukino. "I'll summon who I want, and however many I want. Ursa Major and Minor!" She held up two more keys, summoning the two bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. "Now that's five. Should I go for six?" Ruika asked with a grin. Though she stood in a cocky manner, she slowly began to pant and wince from her overuse of magic. "I can...summon however many I want. I'm way beyond you two! Now, everyone!" She points towards Lucy and Yukino, along with their spirits. "Finish them off!"

"Ice Bringer!" In his hands, a giant sword made of ice forms. Gray then lunges at Byron, swinging the sword each way. Byron quickly begins to jump out of the way from each swing until Gray finally catches up to him, swinging down his sword towards Byron. With his gloves, Byron catches the sword by slapping his hands together over his head with great timing. As he was occupied with the struggle against Gray, Luke slides in right under Byron with a fist in his palm. "Ice make:..."  
"No!" Byron's eyes widen as he had nowhere to go due to being held by Gray and his Ice Bringer. "...geyser!" The copy mage slams his palms right into the chest of Byron Blade, freezing him and sending him to the ceiling. The impact of the ceiling causes the geyser to break and for Byron to crash into the ground, holding his torso in pain.  
"That's it..." Byron pushes himself up, faster than he should as he winced. His gloves and boots disappear as another hammer appears in his hands, different from the exploding hammer. He then grins, and backs to the wall behind him. Byron then slams the hammer against the wall, creating a magic seal. The magic seal creates a beam of gravity magic that quickly slams into Gray, slamming him against the wall. After watching Gray be thrown against the wall, Luke quickly charges Byron, but the requip expert beats him to the punch by slamming down his hammer against the ground, causing a trail of gravity magic to shoot up as it rushes towards Luke. With no time to react, Luke was thrown to the ceiling, his body slamming against the roof with no remorse as he lets out a cry of pain. The gravity begins to intensify as Byron tightens the grip on his hammer.  
"I've played around too long. It's time for you to die, listen to your bones shatter before you from gravity."

.  
Mirajane was giving Kairi no room ever since she turned to her Demon Halphas form. Her and Kairi continued to exchange punches, yet Mirajane was seen not only easily blocking the angel take over mage's punches, but she even found openings and was fast enough to land her own strikes against her face and body. It didn't take Kairi long to bail out of the exchange as she covers up her face with her arms and flies backwards, away from Mirajane. When she uncovered her arms from her face however, Mirajane was gone from her sights. The demon Halphas then appears behind the Angel Soul: Uriel in a blur. Kairi turns right into a hard kick into her stomach, followed by a hammerfist directly against the back of her head. As Kairi falls towards the water in an seemingly unconscious manner, Mirajane aims an open palm towards the mage. A magic seal forms before her, followed by a cosmic beam that hurled towards Kairi. Kairi's body splashes into the water with the beam right behind her, causing a massive underwater explosion. After a few seconds of watching, Mirajane hovers over to the door, but stops to realize that the runes still haven't disappeared. "Hm.."  
Suddenly, after a full minute of nothingness, a whirlpool within the rising water begins to form. The water, which was once up to her knees as she stood on the elevated pillar against the door, now began to draw towards the whirlpool in the middle. As the water drains, Kairi becomes visible. Standing with her arms spread, she now wore a black one piece that exposed her midsection and was also accented with purple waves and a silver lining. She wore matching, black wrist-length gloves and thigh high boots. Her hair now stood upward in a wild, wavy fashion and was now a pure lilac color all over. As she stood in her Angel Soul: Arariel, the water around her condenses into her now cupped hands as she hovered upward towards the eye level of Mirajane, and with a mix of her own raw magic, she thrusted her arms forward towards Mirajane, firing off a mixture of the powerful beam of water, along with her own light magic. With nowhere to go, Mirajane holds her arms up in an X formation. The attack slams into the Demon Halphas and pushes her back into the runes. At first a stalemate, the runes finally give seconds later, breaking apart as Mirajane falls backwards through the now open door, causing the beam to soar over her and down the hallway until an explosion was heard and felt. Kairi quickly flies through just as fast as Mirajane flips to her feet. With one hand around each other's throat, and their free fist reared back in almost a mirror like stance, the two mages who were well aware that they were free of the room, actually considered to continue the fight. Finally, Mirajane was the first to revert to her normal self. Kairi follows after realizing that Mirajane was done. They both shared a low glare as they refused to exchange words with each other, and continued walking, or limping, down the long hallway.

.  
"This was fun!" Sora says as she continues to hold the shadow like dagger in her hands, watching Aira and Wendy struggle with no success against their own shadows. "It's too bad we'll never get to play again."  
Wendy watched as Sora stood in front of her first. Eye level to the dark mage, she stood with widened eyes as she lifted the dagger. Wendy then closed her eyes, waiting on the worst until..  
From out of the door behind them, a golden blur zips past Sora, pushing her back and eventually off her feet. "What is that!? And why is it interrupting!" Sora runs off back to the middle of the room to try and follow the blur, but her eyes couldn't keep track. She then peered up at the ceiling to see multiple golden seals drawn in a pattern. "Huh?"  
Finally, the golden blur comes to a sliding stop beside Aira and Wendy, facing away from Sora. "Grand Chariot.." As Jellal spoke these words, from the magic circles on the ceiling, it rained beams of heavenly body magic, right on top of the shadow mage herself. She let out a loud shriek as the beams rained down on her, and as the smoke cleared, Sora laid there with her face in the ground, unresponsive. As this happens, the shadows that constricted Aira and Wendy return back to normal. Wendy runs over to hug Jellal. "Jellal!"  
He gives a small smile as he nods to Aira who nods back with a smile. "Come on, we have people to save."  
"Oh right! Skye!" Aira yells as she runs through the now open door with Jellal and Wendy right behind her.

.  
Sidney walked alone down the hallway. He continued his trek, not paying any attention to the fact that he left Lucy behind. As he continued his walk, he came across the next room. He huffed to himself a bit before walking in. "This place is forcing you to take directions you don't want to." The ghost mage walked inside the room. At first pitch black, the room lights up as soon as Sidney takes a step inside. Now standing across from him, was the Silent Sanctum ace himself, Aloysis. Aloy grins a bit as he stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest. He then stands up straight off the wall as he addresses the ghost mage. "Sidney Castle, Ace of White Eclipse."  
Sidney nods in acknowledgement. "Aloysis, first captain of the Magic Council. Better known as the not so former Ace of Silent Sanctum."  
"Been a while, Sidney." The ghost mage's attention then turns to the man appearing behind Aloysis. "Jikan Calium." Sidney says as he squints his eyes at the time mage. "How long has it truly been Sidney? Last time I saw you, White Eclipse didn't even exist. You and your infant brother Zalen, stranded alone in a broken down city."  
"I'm not getting into all that Jikan. Since when were you the master of Silent Sanctum?"  
"Since that inconsiderate old man ditched me that's when. But you're right, lets skip the explanations right?" Jikan smirks as he and Aloy stood side by side. "You're outclassed for once." Aloysis says. He begins to slide into a fighting position. "Well come on Sidney, lets see what the legendary Ghost mage of White Eclipse can do."  
Even with two powerful dark mages in front of him, Sidney nods once again. "...It's White Eclipse tradition to allow the weaker opponent to attack first. And since it's two on one, that makes me presume that I'm obviously the strongest one here. So if you will."  
Jikan chuckles, then bursts into laughter. "Nothing's changed huh? Very well then. Prepare for your last fight ever."

.  
Gildarts now stood before the eight hallways, panting heavily. "There's...dragons...! Outside...fighting! Whew! I need to lay off the alcohol. Okay.." The destructive mage looks up towards the entry ways to the eight hallways. "Which one do I take? It would be best to find Natsu. He has a great nose and he's probably picked whichever hallway has the toughest opponent if there is one. So..." Gildarts scratches his head as he looks back and forth between the hallway numbers. "Eight."

"I pick eight.

Hang on Lisanna."


End file.
